• Emmanuel Macron has been visiting Marseille since Wednesday.

    This Thursday morning, he attended the start of the new school year in a school in the northern districts.

  • The Bouge school, in the 13th arrondissement, is known as GEEP, known to be in an advanced state of disrepair and veritable thermal sieves.

  • The establishment must be completely renovated in 2024. In Marseille, nearly 300 other schools are waiting to be renovated, according to an estimate from the town hall.

The gymnasium of the Bouge school, in the northern districts of Marseille, is usually closed to the public. Six months ago, the authorities took this urgent decision. Too dangerous. Above Emmanuel Macron's head, gaping holes in the ceiling reveal the beams. And again, by the own admission of the mayor of Marseille who escorts him, the gymnasium was "cleaned" before the arrival of the Head of State in this school in the 13th arrondissement for the start of the school year. A school known as GEEP, known in Marseille to be in an advanced state of disrepair and veritable thermal strainers.

“This school is symbolic of what we know in Marseille,” says Pierre-Marie Ganozzi, deputy mayor in charge of renovating schools.

It has remained in its original state since its construction in 1968. It dismantles the state of abandonment of certain schools in Marseille for years.

The canteen is in a deplorable state.

"

Children in winter jackets in class

The words of the school janitor Bouge to the President of the Republic slam in the stifling heat of the school gymnasium.

“The roof is leaking,” says Cathy Sanguedolce.

It is no longer possible.

There is no heating during the maintenances.

We have one agent for sixty children in primary and one for thirty children in kindergarten.

You only see that in Marseille.

We want new schools, additional staff.

It has been deteriorating for too long in Marseille.

"

“We have cockroaches, bedbugs, reports a teacher from this school for nine years to the President of the Republic.

Our children must work in good conditions.

They have to put on jackets in the winter.

We need decent premises.

When we grew up with the idea that we deserve this, teenager, we choose a different path.

"

"This is the last return to school where the school is in this state", promises the mayor

Faced with this anger tinged with weariness, the president, almost in campaign, poses as a man who listens.

"And that, you were able to express it within the framework of the consultation?

He repeats several times.

This school was in fact chosen by the Elysée Palace and the Marseille town hall because it is one of the ten schools for which the Marseille Spring decided last spring to undertake major renovation work, in consultation with the teams. educationalists, students and parents of students.

"The school will be completely renovated at the start of the 2024 school year, and this is the last school year in which it is in this state", explains Benoît Payan to Emmanuel Macron.

But in Marseille, nearly 300 other schools are waiting to be renovated, according to an estimate from the town hall.

And in this regard, the municipality wants Emmanuel Macron to make a real commitment, particularly financial, to lead to the construction of a renovation plan of more than one billion euros, while the city's coffers are in the Red.

Our file on Marseille

In the schoolyard, in the corridors, Emmanuel Macron takes the time to talk to everyone, accepts all the selfies that are asked of him, distributes the smiles through the mask, the little benevolent remarks, the affectionate slaps on the shoulders children… but never evokes the checkbook.

"It is not enough to shell out the billions," he recalled during a press briefing just before leaving the Bouge school.

At this precise moment, despite the local expectation on the subject, nobody, not even elected officials, knows exactly if and how much the State is ready to pay to renovate Marseille schools.

The announcement of a "plan for Marseille" is scheduled for 4:45 pm at the Pharo.

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