The report points to the lack of accompanying persons for students with disabilities (AESH), responsible for assisting children with disabilities in class.
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The Mediator of National Education and Higher Education Catherine Becchetti-Bizot submitted her annual report for the year 2021 on Monday July 25. After a year 2020 marked by questions related to exam methods (between the Covid 19 crisis and the baccalaureate reform), a large part of the report is devoted this year to the conditions of young people with disabilities, with the main conclusion that there is still a lack of personnel.
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Nearly 400,000 young people with disabilities were educated in ordinary schools in 2021, 125,500 guides were then mobilized for them. The mediator notes that in five years, the number of young people with disabilities attending mainstream school has increased by 19%. She also notes the effort made on their supervision with the 35% increase in the number of AESH over the same period.
A number of difficulties are however still reported concerning the lack of AESH: insufficient hours allocated to young people compared to what is prescribed, partial nature of the reception or even sometimes the pure and simple absence of available staff. The report also points to the material difficulties for AESH linked to the fragmentation of their activity between several young people and establishments.
To remedy this, the mediation recommends recruiting even more AESH and multiplying reception structures in ordinary settings. It is also a question of making the profession more attractive by multiplying full-time jobs, by breaking up work schedules less, by ensuring the reimbursement of travel expenses, by giving AESH access to the REP and REP+ bonus and by improving their training. and their supervision.
The report also recommends encouraging headteachers and local authorities to coordinate their action to allow continuity of services, facilitate procedures for parents and reduce staff travel.
The Minister of National Education Pap N’Diaye announced the recruitment of 4,000 additional AESH at the start of the 2022 school year.