When the National Education lacks resources, retirees are called to the rescue. In several departments, retired teachers have been asked to replace them in the schools. This is the case of Alain, a 58-year-old retired teacher. He received a very official email in his personal box. It is signed by the inspector of the Seine-et-Marne academy. “I read it and then, I’m torn between wanting to laugh about it, because I got out of it all, and anger”, he explains.
The phenomenon is not completely new, but this time, its scale is particularly striking. “It is written that there are no longer enough teachers to ensure the presence of a teacher in each class of the department”, explains Alain who has been retired since September 2021 after 40 years spent in front of a class. He is asked to join the brigade of replacements, these teachers who sometimes travel tens of kilometers a day, at short notice to make up for the absence of a colleague from CP to CM2. “There is no question”, answers this young retiree.
Another department, same case, or almost. In the Eure, Laurence, has been retired for a year and a half. She was contacted by phone. “The person I spoke to on the phone seemed a little embarrassed, not sure how to tell it., explains Laurence. We didn’t feel very comfortable. ” For this teacher, who nevertheless loved her job, the idea of returning to service did not cross her mind: “No, not today. The profession has changed. I no longer feel too much in line with what is happening in National Education today.”
In the Eure, about fifty classes are currently lacking replacements according to a union count, a thousand students without teachers. In the past, this type of call for help in the direction of young retirees has already been made exceptionally. But Thierry Grignon, representing Snuipp in Seine-et-Marne, is shocked today by the massive and assumed character: “It’s new to do it so transparently, so frankly and in writing.”
According to Thierry Grignon, Covid-19 and its consequences are only a catalyst for a more general problem, linked to the recruitment crisis. “Without the health crisis, we would arrive at this situation. The health crisis makes it simply happen a little earlier “, explains the trade unionist. To his knowledge in Seine-et-Marne, no retiree has agreed to go back to school. Contacted by franceinfo, the rectorates of the academies concerned, of Normandy and Créteil, did not wish to react.
Retired teachers to replace absent teachers – The report by Noémie Bonnin
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