Teacher unions and representatives of local authorities were received, Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Ministry of National Education, to work on strengthening the safety of students and staff.
He wants to go back to school “a sanctuary”. The Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, brought together representatives of local authorities on Wednesday October 18 in Paris, five days after the terrorist attack which cost the life of a teacher in a high school in Arras (Pas-de -Calais). He is invited, Thursday evening on France 2, to the program “L’Evénement, l’interview”, on the theme of the security of schools, students and teachers. A subject at the heart of discussions and which involves town halls, in charge of primary schools, departmental councils, which manage middle schools, and regional councils, responsible for high schools.
The minister began by receiving the teaching unions on Tuesday. “We made a shared observation on the fact that there is a need to better secure schools and establishments (…), but that we cannot transform establishments into prisons”, reported Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, general secretary of SE-Unsa, after the meeting. To take stock of the measures already in place, Gabriel Attal announced the sending of a questionnaire to 60,000 school directors and heads of establishments, who have until Friday to point out possible security flaws .
“I want to say it to all teachers: we will be there to ensure your safety”, had promised, on Saturday, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. The executive knows that he is eagerly awaited by the educational community, but also by the students and their families. To respond to them, he intends to act on three levels.
Immediate measures to face the urgency of the situation
As of Friday, the government asked to strengthen “without delay” the security of educational establishments. In the evening, France’s passage into “emergency attack” alert led to the activation of new measures. Starting with an intensification of control around schools, colleges and high schools by the police, with the possibility of checking identities and searching vehicles. A police memo reminded officers to process and analyze “weak or strong signals” and to bring up “any fact that can be linked to the fight against terrorism”.
The Ministry of National Education has alerted its staff to the need to be extra vigilant. “A visual inspection of the bags must be carried out”, he notably ordered on his site, while asking to limit crowds at the entrance and exit of establishments. At the end of a meeting with the unions on Friday evening, the minister announced the deployment of 1,000 members of mobile security teams, a system intended to combat school violence.
At the local level, certain academies or communities have completed this range of measures. The Ile-de-France region has reactivated a market with private security companies, allowing the deployment of dog handlers in front of a handful of high schools. “It’s a deterrent, the dog is there in case someone attacks”explains on France 2 an agent, deployed in Montigny-le-Bretonneux (Yvelines).
In Paris, the rectorate canceled, Monday and Tuesday, all outings requiring the use of public transport by primary school students, according to documents consulted by franceinfo.
Better application of existing systems
Security measures in schools have been significantly strengthened since the Paris attacks in 2015. One of the most significant advances is the inclusion of risks linked to terrorism and intrusions in specific security plans (PPMS). . Since 2016, schools must carry out three security exercises per year, including one entirely dedicated to the risk of “intrusion attack”, identified by a signal which must be different from that of the fire alarm. “In Arras, it is probably this security plan which made it possible to avoid absolute carnage”defended Gabriel Attal, Sunday evening on TF1, greeting the “progress” made in recent years.
Better security of establishments requires the strengthening of these anti-intrusion exercises, estimates on France 24 Jérôme Fournier, national secretary of SE-Unsa. “VS“this is what allows us to reassure our students: they become actors in their own safety”he emphasizes.
“The procedures must be known inside out by everyone. (…) This showed us that it was the best protection.”
Jérôme Fournier, national secretary of SE-Unsaat France 24
In certain establishments, the implementation of PPMS still remains incomplete, for example due to a lack of differentiated ringing systems, underlines for franceinfo François Bonneau, president of the Centre-Val de Loire region and vice-president of Regions of France in charge of ‘education. “In too many places, the alarm does not work, the front door does not close properly or the teacher parking lot is permanently open”, adds Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the first secondary-level union. Faced with a lack of staff and access “not monitored”some of the staff at a high school in Livry-Gargan (Seine-Saint-Denis) even exercised their right of withdrawal on Monday.
New technical avenues envisaged to further strengthen security
The Minister of National Education expressed, on Sunday, his wish to“go further” in terms of security. Saying they want to move forward “without taboo”, Gabriel Attal mentioned several options, already tested locally, such as the use of access gates or video surveillance. Right-wing elected officials, like the mayor of Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) Christian Estrosi and the president of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez, also suggest experimenting with facial recognition around high schools, despite the ban on such a device in 2020 by administrative justice.
One of the most recurring proposals concerns the installation of turnstiles at the entrance to secondary schools. Almost all high schools in Auvergne-Rhône Alpes already have them, and half of those in Center-Val de Loire. “We want to achieve total coverage of establishments”, defends François Bonneau, from the Regions of France. This badge access system, however, represents a costly investment and can pose a problem with crowds in front of the entrance if the number of turnstiles is insufficient, he emphasizes. It is also not suitable for old city center establishments which do not have the space to accommodate these metal porticos.
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Porticos, “this is not what we claim” for nursery and elementary schools, warned Guislaine David, co-general secretary of SnuiPP-FSU, the main primary school union, on Monday. “We must be able to welcome parents, they must be able to go to the school”in particular to accompany the little ones to class, she stressed, on France Bleu.
“We are always on a tightrope. We need to be protected but the school must not become a bunker that we can no longer access.”
Guislaine David, co-general secretary of SnuiPP-FSUat France Bleu
The risk of “bunkerization” is also mentioned in secondary education. “We don’t think the solution is to create militarized high schools, with barbed wire everywhere, that doesn’t make you want to go and study”schematizes Gwenn Thomas Alves, president of the high school union Fidl, on franceinfo. “We must not fall into a form of techno-solutionism”, says former academic Eric Debarbieux, a specialist in issues of violence at school, on France 24. In 2022, an American study highlighted the negative effects that an abundance of security measures can have, by establishing a climate of suspicion which harms academic results and increases absenteeism.
On the other hand, representatives of teachers, local authorities and parents agree on the need to strengthen human resources in establishments. “It is often because education assistants, principal education advisors and reception agents are at the entrance that they can detect abnormal situations”underlines François Bonneau. “This will only work by combining physical devices and human presence”he concludes, calling for support from the State on these two aspects.