Mon Jun 02 03:00:00 UTC 2025: **News Article:**

**Teachers Strike at Terrain Fayard College After Arson Attack**

Saint-André, Réunion – Teachers at Terrain Fayard College are on strike today, June 2nd, following an arson attack that severely damaged the school over the weekend. Gathered outside the establishment at 7:30 AM, educators are protesting the violence and calling on parents to join their demonstration. Students are being received at the school, despite the damage.

The fire, which occurred during the night of Friday, May 30th, to Saturday, May 31st, amidst broader urban unrest in the area, ravaged the student life offices and the office of the educational advisor. Three to four classrooms were also affected.

The principal and her team worked throughout the weekend to ensure the school could open this morning. “What happened is extremely serious,” declared Rostane Mehdi, Rector of the Academy of La Réunion, who visited the site on Saturday. “It is an attack on the school, a place of knowledge, a place of building citizenship, a place of sharing. To attack the school is to attack the Republic.” The rector underscored the gravity of the incident, adding that the student life services will be temporarily relocated, and the damage will indirectly affect classrooms.

The Rectorate is establishing a support cell today to provide assistance and counseling to staff and students affected by the incident.

Patricia Sakot, the principal of Terrain Fayard College, recounted the events of the night. The school’s security guard alerted her to the presence of intruders and the smell of smoke. “With an Education Assistant, we entered the college to secure the security guard,” she said. “We then saw that the flames were engulfing student life. We took the fire extinguishers, but there were explosions of windows. It was very dangerous, so we waited for the firefighters, who were held up in the area and were taking stone throwing”. Firefighters were eventually able to extinguish the blaze, but the damage was substantial.

Cyrille Melchior, President of the Department, announced on Saturday that a company has been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive assessment, which will be followed by a swift work schedule. Security personnel were also deployed over the weekend to guard the college.

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