Skeleton ignored?

Please help us by providing the following info. Before posting please also check the pinned "Known issues" thread.

Steps to reproduce
1. added 'skeletondirectory' => '/var/www/html/owncloud/core/skeleton',
in config.php. I have also tried putting the skeleton directory in a
different location ('themes' dir) and reflected that change in
config.php
2. created a new user and logged in to see if "documents" and "photos" dirs existed
3. Ran 'strong perms' script as suggested in: https://doc.owncloud.org/server/9.0/admin_manual/installation/installation_wizard.html#strong-perms-label

Expected behaviour
expected to see "my documents" or "documents"; "photos" directories in the "files" view.

Actual behaviour
no "my documents" or "documents"; "photos" directories in the "files" view.

Server configuration
Operating system: CentOS 6.8 (64-bit)
Web server: Apache/2.2.15
Database: 5.5.50-cll-lve MySQL Community Server
PHP version: 7.0.7
ownCloud version (see ownCloud admin page): 9.0.3 stable
Updated from an older ownCloud or fresh install: fresh install, restored data.
ownCloud log (data/owncloud.log):

Special configuration (external storage, external authentication, reverse proxy, server-side-encryption):

The 'data' dir is on /data (right at root), with the following perms:
drwxrwx---. 121 apache apache 12K Jul 20 09:57 data

the new user directory:
drwxr-xr-x 4 apache apache 4.0K Jul 20 09:58 jean.doe
and inside the 'jean.doe' dir:
[*****@cloud9 jean.doe]# ls -lh
total 8.0K
drwxr-xr-x 2 apache apache 4.0K Jul 20 09:58 cache
drwxr-xr-x 3 apache apache 4.0K Jul 20 09:57 files
...and inside 'files':
[*****@cloud9 jean.doe]# ls -lh files/
total 4.0K
drwxr-xr-x 2 apache apache 4.0K Jul 20 09:57 Shared

However,
an existing user (running on oC 6.0.2 'skeleton' seems to be working there)
drwxr-xr-x. 4 apache apache 4.0K Mar 17 2015 tech
...and:
[*****@cloud9 tech]# ls -lh
total 8.0K
drwxr-x--- 2 apache apache 4.0K Mar 30 19:13 cache
drwxr-xr-x. 4 apache apache 4.0K Mar 17 2015 files
...and:
[*****@cloud9 tech]# ls -lh files/
total 8.0K
drwxr-xr-x. 2 apache apache 4.0K Mar 17 2015 My Documents
drwxr-x--- 2 apache apache 4.0K Mar 30 19:13 Shared

no 'my documents' for the new user (jean.doe).

Any idea anyone...?
thx ahead,
/DL

Do you use LDAP ? If yes it could be this known issue: https://github.com/owncloud/core/issues/25212

Sorry, just saw your reply today.
No, no LDAP, local users only.
ty.
/DL

Hmm, I just saw that you set strong perms.
Can you check whether the folder "core/skeleton" is readable by the web server ?

I'm having a different issue that I'm working on, upgraded to 9.1.0.15 and having login issues - saw similar posts here, so I'm not the only one... once I get this one resolved I'll test accessibility. I did match the permissions on /skeletion with an older OC (6.0.2) that I'm currently running in PROD, so I'm assuming that 'apache' can read this dir.
thx for all your help!

Went "nextcloud" instead of repairing. All issues gone....
Again thx much for you your help.