Incursion, assault, theft, broken glass, knife attack, vandalism but also sexual harassment, drugs, vagrancy, alcohol... Stories of violence perpetrated against teachers, pupils and school property in Agadir are increasingly filling media spaces, placing the security-insecurity binomial in schools and their immediate environments back in the foreground. The complaints recorded by the police, gendarmerie and local authorities leave one perplexed as to the aggressive behaviour of the assailants and their clear intentions to harm and reoffend when prosecutions are not severe. Even more serious, acts of violence recorded against teachers are practically a daily occurrence. In schools on the outskirts (Aourir, Anza, Drarga, Tikiouine, Ben Sargaou) but also, and in all forms, in city centre schools (Abdelkrim Khattabi, Zarktouni, Lalla Marième, Youssef Ben Tachafine high schools...). "Now," this teacher tells us, "they assault us even in our classroom." A new, brand-new middle school that just opened its doors this season in a neighbourhood known to be difficult in Tikiouine, and while the pupil registration operation was continuing, the headmaster realised that all the taps had been stolen. He had to intervene to take back the window shutters that a young person was preparing to pass through. During the holidays, cases of school theft are numerous... The forms of violence against schools are characteristic of a deep crisis in society facing this core of education, and vary between physical harm against the direct participants in the operation (pupils, teachers, members of the administration) and against the symbols of education (school establishments, equipment, representations, achievements...). The forms of violence are just as significant of a crisis of identity and belonging to an environment made responsible for personal failures in society, or "punished" because it is inaccessible for socio-economic reasons. The insecurity that was the preserve of school establishments on the outskirts or in at-risk areas is currently manifesting itself in all its forms. Modern ones (sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol...) in schools in the chicest neighbourhoods of Agadir, thus auguring a worrying expansion of the phenomenon, in the absence of effective coverage by police authorities who, moreover, are understaffed to cover all school units in a timely manner. As a sign of contagion, the phenomenon has reached schools in the most remote rural areas. Headmasters' reports regularly mention damage to school property by, a new thing, the village youth. Dozens of complaints have been filed with police stations, public prosecutors, local authorities, gendarmeries and the phenomenon is only getting worse. The impact of the phenomenon and its resurgence have caused the authorities of the Souss-Massa-Draâ region to react, which has launched, in close collaboration with the AREF-SMD, an emergency plan, yet another one! Security-focused this time.
The principle consists of involving all stakeholders—educational, economic, logistical, security...—to draw up a roadmap federating the efforts made to come up with an effective vision and fight against violence in school establishments and allow teachers to focus on their educational mission, and pupils to follow their lessons serenely.
saloukpress@yahoo.fr
News 15 Dec 2008 3 min read
Resurgence of school violence

