Wilfrid Gilles said he has observed a progressive decrease in the number of classroom hours in schools and the number of days spent in class. In the former school calendar, there were 188 school days and eight vacation days, distributed over 940 hours of teaching and learning for the fundamental cycle and 1,128 hours for the new secondary level. This year, the number of school days has been reduced to 186. The educator noted that this trend is repeated each year and is set to continue because of insecurity. “This creates panic and calls into question both the present and the future of the students,” lamented Wilfrid Gilles, recalling that at the international level, the recommended average is 200 school days.

Citing a report from OCHA, Mr. Gilles reminded that 1,600 schools in the metropolitan region were forced to close due to gang violence. The closure of these schools affected 243,000 students, he added, noting that among them, some were occupied by armed gangs and others by internally displaced persons. This situation has led to school dropouts and forced teachers from private schools to leave the education system.