against the “clash of knowledge” at school, the inter-union hopes for a strong mobilization on Saturday

Teachers’ unions, youth organizations and the parents’ federation FCPE are still demanding the abandonment of the measures announced by Gabriel Attal in December, in particular the level groups in middle school.

Strikes, “death college” operations and now a call to demonstrate in Paris and throughout France, Saturday May 25. For six months, teaching unions, youth organizations and the parents’ federation FCPE have been fighting against the reform launched in December 2023 by Gabriel Attal, when he was Minister of National Education. A “shock of knowledge” which the now Prime Minister does not intend to renounce, but which these organizations hope will not occur at the start of the next school year. Starting with its most emblematic measure: the creation of level groups in middle school.

“We have itambition to achieve great mobilization. The gathered arc is really wide. Teachers, parents, high school students…”underlines Benoit Teste, general secretary of the FSU, who spoke at an inter-union press conference on Wednesday May 22. “This event is unprecedented” because almost unanimous, notes Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, general secretary of SE-Unsa. The Snes-FSU, the first secondary union, SUD Education, the CGT éduc’action, the Fnec-FP FO, the Sgen-CFDT, Unsa-education… Among the education union organizations, only Snalc did not take part in the call to demonstrate.

By choosing a Saturday, the inter-union hopes for massive gatherings. Unlike a weekday, “this allows parents to actively participate”, argues Abdelkrim Mesbahi, vice-president of the FCPE. However, “it’s not a black day, but about carrying out a positive project for the school”wants to believe Elisabeth Allain-Moreno. On the inter-union visuals, the slogan is twofold: “No to the clash of knowledge” And “For public school”.

Since December 5, the date on which Gabriel Attal announced an arsenal of measures to raise the level of students, several actions have already been carried out. At the local level, parents occasionally decide not to send their children to school for a day. Nationally, several calls for strikes have been launched. But the success was not dazzling, and decreased in intensity over the months: on April 2, the Ministry of National Education reported 15% of strikers in colleges, 5% in schools and only 2 % in general and technological high schools. There were 20% in both first and second degree on February 6.

For Maud Valegeas, federal co-secretary of SUD Education, the previous mobilizations still allowed two things: “win public opinion” And “make the text evolve” on level groups. In a decree published in the Official Journal in mid-March, the wording was in fact abandoned in favor of groups “constituted according to the needs of the students”. But despite this semantic evolution, the inter-union still points to a risk of “sorting” students, which will not help them progress. “There are many other solutions for our college, such as social diversity”spear Caroline Brisedoux, national secretary of the Sgen-CFDT Federation.

To try to push the government back on level groups, legal leverage has also been used by certain unions. Unsa and the CFDT have notably filed appeals with the Council of State to request the suspension of this measure. But, in a decision published on April 30, the highest administrative court has already rejected that of Unsa, considering that there was no “emergency” to rule.

Beyond the level groups, the inter-union is protesting against other measures of the “shock of knowledge”: “prep-secondary” classes, the obligation to obtain the certificate to continue one’s education, or even labeling primary school textbooks. This one “aims to impose teaching methods which do not achieve consensus to the detriment of the educational freedom of teachers”alert the organizations, which are also worried about the discourse on authority at school carried by Gabriel Attal.

More generally, the entire educational policy carried out by five different ministers under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron is being denounced. “The challenges for the school are high and there has been no real project since 2017, apart from pompous terms”, deplores Elisabeth Allain-Moreno. For Michaël Marcilloux, of CGT Education, staff also suffer “a loss of sense of the profession”. Between lack of resources and crisis of attractiveness, “we are moving towards what hospital employees are experiencing”judges this union representative.

No matter the importance of the mobilization on Saturday, the inter-union promises not to give up. And is already paving the way for other actions between now and the end of the school year. “We will not disarm and the choices will be made inter-union”confides to franceinfo Jérôme Fournier, national secretary of SE-Unsa.