HRW says Mayotte is failing in child education

Human Rights Watch has documented severe educational deficiencies affecting thousands of children in Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, where approximately nine percent of youth remain unenrolled despite compulsory schooling laws. The organization's research revealed that enrolled students face overcrowded facilities lacking basic amenities, including potable water and adequate sanitation, with many schools operating partial-day schedules due to classroom and teacher shortages.

French authorities have chronically underfunded the territory's education system, according to the advocacy group's findings based on interviews with students, families and officials. Cyclone damage further degraded already insufficient infrastructure across the impoverished archipelago, where over three-quarters of residents subsist below poverty thresholds.

Libraries Without Borders has deployed mobile resources serving hundreds of young residents, while the Foundation of France allocated more than 15 million euros toward educational initiatives following the storm. Advocacy officer Elvire Fondacci condemned the disparity between Mayotte students and their mainland counterparts, emphasizing that all French children deserve equivalent learning opportunities regardless of geographic location.