Niger: Back to school underwater – literally!

Ah, Niger, this country where not only the limits but also the start of the school year are being pushed back... because of the rains! Initially scheduled for early October, it has been postponed to October 28. But it is not just downpours that are disrupting the schedule: floods, devastated schools, and a government that is balancing on a lifeline.

Nature takes precedence over education

The children will not be going to school this month. No, no, they did not skip school, it was the weather that did. Since the beginning of October, the rains have transformed the roads into rivers and the classrooms into giant swimming pools . The Ministry of Education announces that 18 regions are affected, with schools that are now used... as shelters for displaced people! It is difficult to teach geography in a country where the map changes every time it rains.

Indeed, in this "overflowing" return to school, we note that in addition to the 7,600 classrooms completely submerged (by water and events), the government's management of school infrastructure is as fluid as a mud puddle after a storm. Can you imagine, entire families stuck in schools and students who have to hope for a miracle to find their desks again!

Irreparable damage and lack of solutions
But don't worry, dear parents, the State is "managing the situation". Well... let's just say that it is mopping up the rain as best it can. The damage is estimated at tens of millions of CFA francs, and of course, the budget to restore all that is as solid as a sandcastle at high tide. It's as if the rain has become a convenient pretext to mask a deeper problem: a school infrastructure that is running out of steam, with or without a flood.

Children may return to school on October 28th… if infrastructure allows it. Otherwise, we will have to wait for the next wave.