Some of the teachers at the Romain Rolland college in Nîmes are on strike this Thursday. They are mobilizing against the threat of closing a class next year. “This year we have 4 sixth grade classes = 78 students (19 in 6 A and B, 21 students in 6C and 6D) who will increase next year to 3 fifth grade classes (i.e. 26 students per class minimum)! The college’s endowment for the 2022/2023 school year will reach us in January, and it provides for the closure of a 5th grade class!“, they explain in their press release.
The college has already lost a 4th grade class this year. “Which gives an overloaded workforce, according to these professors: 25 students per class in 4th this year! Students can no longer work properly“. Teachers insist that”the specificities of the college must be taken into account: it is located in one of the poorest districts of Occitanie _ (Chemin bas d’Avignon / Clos d’Orville), the scholarship rate is very high (more than 80% of disadvantaged students), it has a large number of students with special needs (about a third) and the size of most classrooms is already too tight to accommodate the students in good condition. “
Not only are the teachers calling for the maintenance of four 5th year classes but also for the reopening of an additional 3rd year class. They have requested an audience with the academic director of the national education services during the day.