in Paris, “deserted schools and colleges” operation against the creation of level groups

At the initiative of the FCPE, parents of students in Parisian schools are asked not to send their children to class. A “deserted school” operation to protest against the level groups, which the government wants to establish at the next school year.

Empty schools. While the holidays are well over, the “deserted schools and colleges” operation was launched by the parents’ federation FCPE, in Paris, Thursday April 25. It aims to protest against the creation of level groups in French and mathematics at the start of the next school year, an emblematic measure of the package of “shock of knowledge” measures initiated by Gabriel Attal when he was Minister of National Education last December .

Families were therefore asked not to send their children to class on Thursday, to protest against this change. Similar operations take place regularly throughout France. Because even if the official texts of this reform were published more than a month ago, the mobilization continues.

Reduce class sizes

In front of a priority education college in the 20th arrondissement of the capital, the atmosphere was very calm Thursday morning. “There were only a handful of students this morning, so it worked very well”, reports Claire, representative of the FCPE. We are far from the usual hustle and bustle, only around fifteen students came to class out of nearly 500 in normal times. Families therefore followed the protest movement against future level groups.

“This system is to break social diversity within public schools, it is to put the good ones on one side who will succeed anyway and condemn those who arrive with difficulties. However, all the studies show that diversity is a factor which promotes the success of all students. It does not penalize the good ones, and it helps those who are more in difficulty.Judge Claire.

The student’s mother brushes aside the argument presented by the defenders of this measure according to which it is easier to help young people progress when the groups are more homogeneous. “What makes it difficult to help everyone progress in classes that are in fact heterogeneous is the numbers,” she judges.

“How do we make 30 people progress? If we had classes of 20 we could make everyone progress, it would be easier for the teachers.”

Claire, FCPE representative

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“They do not suffer from having heterogeneous classes, they suffer from having classes that are too crowded”, she asserts. The FCPE claims around forty establishments mobilized Thursday in Paris. This is also the case regularly in many cities in France.

“We are ready to continue the movement”

Audrey, mother of a 4th grade student, regrets that these level groups have consequences on all other lessons. “The establishment of these level groups will involve stopping classes in half-groups in languages ​​or sciences, something that we greatly appreciated,” she recalls, while ensuring that she does not believe in the possibility of students changing groups during the year.

“How is this possible? If they progress we will put them in another group so we will have to remove some from the new group. And then in one group they will have progressed on their part, but meanwhile the other group will have progressed so they will be late again when they arrive in the new group”she argues.

And these parents are motivated. “We are ready to continue the movement. It is more than a mobilization, it is a real defense of an idea of ​​school”, supports Martine, a mother of a student. And their determination is such that they are ready to continue actions until the end of the year.