He answers the strikers. The Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, called Tuesday January 11 to “the unity of the Nation around its school”, two days before a call for a strike by teachers which promises to be very popular. “It is not a strike that solves the problems, we do not strike against a virus, he launched on BFMTV. I know that there is a lot of fatigue, a lot of nervousness, so I appeal both to the coolness, to the unity of the Nation around his school, not to confuse the subjects, we are in the presidential campaign, some opponents try to make it a theme “.
All representative unions called a strike in National Education Thursday, denouncing “an indescribable mess” in schools due to the Covid-19 protocol put in place and “a strong feeling of abandonment and anger among the staff”. For Jean-Michel Blanquer, “it’s a shame to have a day that will further disrupt the system”, he said. “There are problems, I am the first to admit it, it is difficult but it is difficult in all countries”. “As I express the hope that this is our last wave, it would be a shame to be divided in this home stretch which is very hard, very complicated for all the players”, he added.
Monday evening, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a relaxation of the health protocol in the face of the Covid epidemic in schools and the risk of mayhem. Three simple self-tests for contact cases at school, without obligation of antigen test or PCR, are now required. Jean-Michel Blanquer sees in this “adaptation” of the protocol a way of “to simplify the life of families but also the life of teachers and school directors, mainly in primary school”.
The idea is “to make life easier for everyone, families, to avoid queues at the pharmacy, and primary school administrators who are very concerned (…), while maintaining a requirement on the subject of tests. C ‘is therefore a responsibility of everyone, for the lowest possible constraints “, he estimated. The minister reported 10,000 classes closed Monday evening, or 2% of primary classes, and 50,000 cumulative positive cases, out of 12 million students.