As in 38 other departments, schoolchildren in Isère will have to wear the mask again this Monday, November 8 when they return from the All Saints holidays. The goal is to limit contamination while the cases of Covid are increasing in recent days.
It is a decision that will not please parents or children. But from Monday, November 8, 2021, the mask is again compulsory in nursery and primary schools in the department of Isère. All the indicators show an increase in the epidemic in the department: the incidence rate rose to 68 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, he doubled in ten days. “Our priority is to avoid returning home from school again“, estimates on France Bleu Isère Gilles Nogues, the president of the federation of parents of pupils FCPE in Isère.
France Bleu Isère: How do you feel the children at the start of the new school year when you have to put on the mask?
Gilles Nogues, president of the FCPE Isère: I think most will be disappointed because they finally had a little enchanted break two weeks before the holidays. It will certainly be difficult to put the mask back on them, but it was said at the start of the pandemic that it would be absolutely impossible to force children to put on the mask. And we saw that they had finally shown a lot of maturity. They had succeeded without problem. We will have to do it again.
And what do you think of this return of the mask to school, do you?
Personally, I think that we cannot deny the figures which show that we are slowly heading towards a fifth wave. And then, the children, it is all the same a population which is not vaccinated. And suddenly, faced with that, our priority is to avoid returning home from school again. So I understand the government’s decision, which adapts to the epidemic figures.
Several parents of students pointed to an inconsistent measure. Does it lack consistency in your opinion as well?
At the start of September, the ministry presented different levels of protocol, saying who we were going to adapt. So hey, we have been warned and as I say, if it helps prevent children from falling ill and classes being closed, that is a plus.
As you said, elementary school children constitute a population that is not vaccinated. In the United States, the vaccination of children from 5 years old started 15 days ago. Do you have to speed up this, according to you?
Personally, I think we really have to follow the advice of medical experts on this. I can’t really give an opinion, it has no value in the matter. You really have to stick to the recommendations of scientists.
Have we used enough of the alternatives to masks? I am thinking, for example, of CO2 sensors or air purifiers in classrooms. Has there been enough effort on this?
We could always do better and I think that indeed, we see that vaccination is not enough and that we really have to do all the barrier gestures. And among that, the ventilation of the rooms or the purchase of CO2 sensors. Certainly that would have helped. It is a cost for the communities and few of them are committed to it. Well, it’s a shame, but it can be understood.
What other means do you think should be implemented?
We at the FCPE would have liked the rectorate to put more resources into equipping teachers with transparent masks. The mask is very embarrassing, especially for children in small classes where we learn to read and write, CP-CE1. Transparent masks seem necessary to us at least in these levels, where it is really important to be able to see the movement of the lips. We could have made that investment.
Emmanuel Macron is due to speak tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. to make announcements again on the health situation. What do you expect from it?
I would like him to resume his commitment to do everything to avoid going home from school, because all the same, that corresponds to a government commitment. In many other countries, children did not go to school. So I would like him to renew this commitment for the school and then for the rest, to show us a little how he sees the future in the face of this epidemic which is resuming.