Three students lose their lives, crushed by a collapsed wall in their own high school. This drama, which occurred in a school supposed to guarantee security and knowledge, has turned a whole country upside down. But it is not an isolated accident. It is a brutal reflection of a reality that we have been silent for too long: the catastrophic state of educational infrastructure in Tunisia.
Ruin establishments
Figure walls, ceilings that threaten to fall, out of service, broken windows, classes without heating or ventilation: this is the daily life of thousands of Tunisian students, especially in the interior regions of the country. In governorates like Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine, Siliana or Kébili, public schools welcome children every day in unworthy, sometimes inhuman conditions.
Alert ignored for years
Teachers too have sounded alarm for years. Unions, associations, regional media: all have denounced the growing obsolescence of establishments, without concrete response from the authorities. Mezzouna’s drama comes to confirm, with incredible violence, which many already knew: some Tunisian schools have become fatal traps.
A glaring regional fracture
This drama also reveals a deep inequality between the regions. While some schools in urban areas have a minimum of means, those in rural areas are often abandoned. This fracture is not only material: it reflects continuous marginalization of regions of the interior, strengthening the feeling of social injustice among young people and families.
Theoretical equality, a brutal reality
While the Tunisian Constitution guarantees equal opportunities and the right to education, the reality on the ground is quite different. How to talk about equality when some students have to take lessons in dilapidated rooms, without table or benches, and sometimes even without a roof?
Political promises, but few acts
Faced with the emotion caused by the tragedy, the authorities promised the opening of an investigation and the identification of the officials. The President of the Republic himself expressed his sadness. But words are no longer enough. Acts, concrete plans, structural reforms are needed. It takes an urgent national audit of educational infrastructure, a large -scale renovation plan, a revision of budgets, and especially transparent follow -up.
Education can no longer wait
Education can no longer be sacrificed on the altar of budgetary balances or political calculations. A company that lets her children study under dangerous conditions is a society that abandons her future.
Never turn your eyes
The tragic death of Abdelkader, Youssef and Hammouda in Mezzouna should not remain a dramatic anecdote in the news. It must be the starting point for a real collective awareness. Each Tunisian child has the right to go to school safely. It is a human, moral, national requirement.
This drama must become a turning point. So that a student never loses life again by going to seek knowledge. For the school to become a refuge, a place of growth, a base of justice. So that mezzouna is not a symbol of abandonment, but the starting point for a deep change.
