faced with Covid-19, retired teachers called to the rescue at school

Annie received the message a few days ago. “It is an email that is written in excessively large characters. I think it is suitable for the target population”, explains this retired teacher who lives in Vannes (Morbihan). She is one of those new retirees who are called upon to lend a hand to National Education in the face of the large number of teachers affected by Covid-19. in schools.

“As we isn’t all young, they say to themselves that we can’t see well”, jokes the one who, at 61, has been retired for a year and a half. On this email it says: “You served as a school teacher before requesting your retirement. Also, I inform you that it is possible for you to make replacements in the department of Morbihan“.

But for Anne, “out of the question” to go back! “First, I don’t have pwant to get sick, walk around the department or do daycare at a moment’s notice”, she explains.

“I made my career, I gave, I largely deserved my retirement!”

Annie, retired teacher

at franceinfo

“I still suffered a lot at National Education, I find”, adds the young retiree. The health crisis at school, she has already experienced it during her last months in class, in 2020. And her state of mind reflects that of the former teachers contacted by franceinfo. “I will not come back to do the duty fireman”, throw a lot of them.

Many former school teachers worry about being sent, like any temporary worker, to a school too far from home. What the administration denies. “We will obviously seek stability in a territory, as much as possible. We don’t want to put people in trouble! It’s the best job in the world.” affirms Guylène Esnault, academic director in Finistère.

From her office in Quimper, after having exhausted the pool of usual temporary workers, she is preparing to send a letter to young retirees. “As a citizen, it also means saying ‘I’m taking part in the fight against this virus’. And I think it’s important that children continue to go to school. For newly retired people, it’s quite in that spirit, advance Guylene Esnault.

For the academic director, who hopes for many positive returns in this period of crisis, “When you are a teacher one day, you are always a teacher!”.

There is still an age limit: a civil servant cannot be recalled beyond the age of 67… Only theoretically: in Mayenne, former teachers aged 73 and 75 have been recontacted. The academic management, in Laval, recognizes a hiccup: the age of the retirees had not been rechecked.