INTRODUCTION

For several years in Côte d'Ivoire, courses in schools have been

disrupted as the holidays approach. Driven by the desire to go well before
the date indicated, to take advantage of these rest periods scheduled
during the year, students indulge in acts of violence. They are often
whistles, throwing stones and clubs in the classrooms to dislodge their
comrades and teachers. The 2021-2022 academic year is no exception to
this practice.

I. THE ORIGIN OF ANTICIPATED SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

This phenomenon of “early holidays” in December arose in the

school space in the 1990s and has since continued to flourish.

In the course of the 2000s, groups of students claiming to be from

Fesci (Student and School Federation of Côte d'Ivoire, Editor's note),
sometimes violent, swept over public and private establishments to force
the administration and the teaching staff to stop classes before the date
indicated for the Christmas holidays.

II. THE ARGUMENTS ADVANCED BY THE PUPILS

WHO CLAIM THIS EARLY LEAVE

The main reason lies in the gap between the end of the grades for the first
quarter and the final departure on Christmas break.

 A week before the date scheduled for the Christmas holidays, we

witness the end of the grades and the calculation of the averages for
the first quarter.
 Once the grades have been fixed and the averages calculated, there
are practically no more graded assignments, nor written questions,
until the return from vacation.
 The students therefore consider the time between the end of the
marks, the calculation of the averages and the date of departure for
the Christmas holidays, as “lost time”.
  They therefore believe, according to a logic of which they are the
only ones to hold the keys, that they cannot wait any longer to go
on leave.

III. HOW DOES ANTICIPATED LEAVES LEAD TO SUCH

SIGNIFICANT VIOLENCE, DEATHS?

There are other deep-seated reasons that explain these school

disruptions, and that must be sought in the image that Côte d'Ivoire itself
sends back to its students: non-respect, non-consideration of authority.

The school is a social institution which is governed by laws. It

therefore has its requirements, which any citizen wishing to acquire
knowledge should comply with. Respect for authority is no longer
required at school: students who hit teachers, school officials who
sometimes ask students to jeer at teachers...

In Côte d'Ivoire, school is no longer necessarily the place for

producing skills and promoting merit.

Failure to respect authority also explains the persistence of this

phenomenon of early leave. Because, if the students had consideration
for their guardianship, they would comply with the calendar of school
holidays.

IV. THE SOLUTIONS RECOMMENDED TO ERADICATE

THIS PHENOMENON?

 The State must regulate a certain number of things. Initially, he

must pass a law or introduce a penal measure in order to sanction
all those who would cause early leave.

 It is also necessary to clean up the immediate environment of

educational establishments: most of them cohabit with
refreshments, "maquis", etc.
  Another measure that I think is necessary: secure access to schools,
establish access passes to the grounds of schools, so that access is
controlled and secure.

 Pupils must also be instructed, from the beginning of the year, on

all the consequences of early leave.

 In addition, teachers, in coordination with the administrations of

the establishments, must schedule common homework during the
last week preceding the holidays.

 Similarly, the supervising ministry must reduce the gap between

the date of the judgment of the notes, the calculation of the
averages of the first quarter and that of the holidays of December.

 Finally, it is necessary to schedule the lessons which will be the

subject of examinations during the last week preceding the
Christmas holidays.

CONCLUSION

There is no wealth except in men. Let us be mindful of building

good men, raising our children with rules that include both punishments
and rewards, respect for authority, elders and public property, and a
taste for effort, the only path that leads to success. Thus, we could hope
to enjoy the guarantee of preparing a generation that will be able to meet
the challenges of tomorrow and lead our families and our society towards
brighter tomorrows.