On the phone and several times during the interview, Isabelle * laughs. Yet, deep inside, this elementary school director of Yvelines does not want to laugh. The situation does not lend itself to this. Less than a week after the start of the school year, more than 9,000 classes are closed and more than 47,000 students have been tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of National Education announced on Thursday, January 6.
For almost two years, Isabelle, like her counterparts everywhere in France, has gone through confinement and home schooling, the return in person with adapted rules, a return to school full of hope in September and a return to a situation. “worse than during the first confinement”, she assures, after the Christmas holidays.
Between a first reduced health protocol, announced by Jean-Michel Blanquer, the day before the start of the The Parisian, then a second three days later, and a concrete situation that is sometimes chaotic on the ground, the director navigates on sight, waiting for better days between small fleeting joys, exhaustion and demotivation. Here is his testimony.
“I manage an establishment of 15 classes. In normal times, there are 392 students. At the end of this week, we are rather around 300, since there are seven suspended classes and 11 positive cases. urban school fairly mixed socially, most parents have jobs where teleworking is not possible, but there are few caregivers. At the start of September, we were all motivated, the months of May and June had been happier , a few outings could have been organized. The children were no longer wearing the mask outside, it was starting again. But in December, the situation became tense again. I had to make the decision to cancel the Christmas market for the second year in a row, both students and teachers were disappointed.
“Anything that can federate within the school, teamwork, falls apart. We can no longer eat together, we are all isolated. Intra-school life is completely dead.”
Isabelle, elementary school principalto franceinfo
In December, I had to manage ten administrative class closures, because it was impossible to replace the teachers. When we learn about the absence of a colleague and his non-replacement, we must call all the families of the children concerned to explain that they will not be accepted. In October and November, we could distribute the few students not recovered to other classes under certain conditions, but in December, this was no longer possible due to the protocol. Some parents understand and organize themselves, but others rebel: “This is outrageous! How am I going to do it? I can’t keep it …”
One sentence that strikes me every time is when a parent throws me: “How do I do it? I work!” I want to answer: “What do I do?” I am aware that the situation weighs on everyone, we take people’s anxiety. Anger and aggression have escalated with the administrative closures. I receive emails or have sometimes heated discussions, I am on the front line and I take the blame. Some angry parents in the morning come to apologize at night, they know it’s not our fault, but speak out of anger.
When the Christmas holidays arrive, I am exhausted. I completely cut, I absolutely did not open my emails for 15 days … It was a question of survival. I no longer listen to the media to preserve myself, so I discovered the new protocol on Monday morning. As long as I have nothing on my mailbox, I consider that nothing has changed.
“Real anger is testing for children: it’s abuse! Doing three tests in a week is delusional!”
Isabelle, elementary school principalto franceinfo
I understand that parents tell me: ‘I don’t wear it all week.’ Others tell us that their child can’t take it anymore or worry: ‘It’s not going to have to be repeated.’ One family has even decided not to send their child back to school. For parents, the return of the compulsory mask outside was the last straw, so they chose home education.
With the second protocol of the week, it’s a little better, we avoid going back to a series of tests for each new case declared less than a week after the first. Otherwise, it might never have ended. Until Thursday, we had no official document from the National Education to send to pharmacies so that they deliver the self-tests to parents who came to have their child screened. Perhaps the ministry had not anticipated that pharmacies were going to ask for an official document or was it not?
In the meantime, some families were unable to receive these tests and were unable to return the child to school because he had not been tested. Even if we try to filter the students and check the attestations on the grid, one morning we still had five children who did not have negative tests or attestation. I think that some will make sworn statements that will be false. And I want to say that this is no longer my problem.
“I have little respect for Jean-Michel Blanquer. How can I get it when he doesn’t respect us?”
Isabelle, elementary school principalto franceinfo
I would like the minister to ask our opinion before putting in place such protocols. We are on the front line and we are not asked what is and is not achievable. I have the impression of being a robot having to apply directives devoid of human dimension.
I would like to be asked if all is well. I completed only one questionnaire in two years, coming out of the first confinement, but since then nothing. And when I hear the plan to replace absent teachers with students or retired people, I laugh. Are we here for daycare? This profession can be learned. We depreciate it.
“It kind of feels like we’re there so people can keep working and keep the economy going. Why not, but in this case, we have to take responsibility.”
Isabelle, elementary school principalto franceinfo
The teachers don’t want to come in the morning, they are tied up. There is no project, no dynamic. They are happy to be reunited with their students, but they know their day will start with a test check or a message for a positive case. They are also in great demand by parents whose children are at home and who claim the work that has been done in class. But they cannot provide face-to-face and distance services.
Overall, children don’t complain too much, but they miss the moments in life. Two students had to consult child psychiatrists because they developed anxieties. Between what they hear in the press, in the yard, in their family, they no longer know whether they are in danger or not. It is even more difficult for the first class, because learning to read with a mask is not easy, but the level has not dropped too much.
One has the impression that the children have lost their carelessness. It shows in their games in the yard, we are always behind them to ensure that they have their mask on. Running with a mask during recess at eight is not normal. I’m worried, we’re robbing them of two years of their childhood. How will they live with that as they grow up, how will this period have marked them?
“I no longer want to go to work, I don’t recognize my job, I feel like I’m doing maintenance. There are no more projects, no more teaching.”
Isabelle, elementary school principalto franceinfo
It’s been two years since we said to ourselves that it will get better and better, but now I’m wondering when will it stop? I don’t know if it can be any worse than now. It’s worse than during the first confinement because we have a lot of things to manage. Everything is overflowing, we receive messages from parents after 8 p.m., 9 p.m., sometimes at 4 a.m. It’s a constant pressure, you wake up in the morning wondering what will happen to you.
“I no longer interact with the students, I am oppressed and overwhelmed by the administrative work. I had the ability to take a step back from my work, but now I can’t do it. It obsesses me, I I go to bed with that, I get up with that. “
Isabelle, elementary school principalto franceinfo
I’ve been in National Education for 20 years, I’ve been a director for five years, but if the ship sinks, it will be without me. I know the picture is not very cheerful. No one has cracked yet, but it could happen. All it takes is one trigger for it to go into a spin. I caressed the project of reconverting myself in a few years, the desire is multiplied tenfold. I know the grass isn’t necessarily greener elsewhere, but if I had a chance, I would quit overnight. “
* The first name has been changed.