“not calm” about the future, these teachers explain why they are striking this Thursday

“Demotivated“: teachers are called to strike and demonstrate throughout France on Thursday February 1st for “issue a warning“to the government on working conditions, salaries and public schools, a”anger” fueled by the recent declarations of their minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra – and the revelations surrounding the schooling of these children which followed. The movement must be relatively followed in the schools: the main union, the SNUipp, predicts a rate of strikers by 40% on average. Up to 65% in Paris and more than 50% in Val-de-Marne, Drôme, Ardèche and even in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

When he learned of the organization of this one-day strike, Christophe, an English teacher in a college in Grand-Quevilly, near Rouen, did not hesitate: “My first reaction was, finally!” What angers him the most is the impact of the organization of level groups in middle school at the start of the next school year. Students of 6^e and 5^e will be distributed according to their skills, for all hours of maths and French: “When we enter the concrete simulations, we realize that we will have to undress Pierre to dress Paul or Jacques. This is unacceptable.”

Unreplaced absences crystallize anger

In Rachel’s school, in priority education, in Angers, out of fifteen teachers, twelve are announced on strike. It is the unreplaced absences that crystallize anger. This is the case here for three teachers on sick leave, one of whom has been on sick leave for more than 15 days: “When a colleague is not replaced, what happens to the students? There is no more follow-up for them, they become demotivated. These children are not taken care of and We also toast because we already have difficult classes, sometimes overcrowded. We find ourselves with groups of 29-30, we are not calm.” And it’s not the uniform that will solve the problems, says the teacher.

Benoît teaches technology in Aveyron, in three different establishments: “The more we move forward in time, the more points of tension there are. Whether it’s class numbers, salary increases, retirement… Ministers come and go and everyone adds their own contribution to the stupidity”he concludes.

“Breaking point”

“We have a school that is doing badly, which is at the breaking point“, alerts Guislaine David. “Working conditions will be at the heart of our mobilization and our demands because they have deteriorated for several years“, recalls the co-general secretary and spokesperson for the SNUipp-FSU teachers’ union on franceinfo. According to her, teachers are currently “at a breaking point where they can no longer practice their profession. They really lost their sense of the profession“. The representative of SNUipp-FSU discusses the purchasing power of teachers which has “declined over the last 20 years. We have a deterioration in salaries“She judges that the measures taken by the government”were not enough, especially for mid-careers“.

Guislaine David also shares another point of “tension” teachers which concerns the comments of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the Minister of National Education, Youth, Sports and the Olympic Games. The Minister “attacked public schools upon her arrival and attacked teachers directly“, recalls the trade unionist.

“We see new cases every day which add to the Amélie Oudéa-Castéra file. It is not legitimate for most teachers and we can clearly see that there is tension over the very person of the minister. For us, it does not represent National Education.”

Guislaine David

at franceinfo

Guislaine David criticizes Amélie Oudéa-Castéra for not being “recognized by the profession“due in particular to”his lies and everything that happened following his first statements” and to be “a part-time minister“because of the multiple portfolios she has to manage.”It is a form of contempt for staff and they will say it in the streets and on strike.”

All these teachers say they are ready to follow other days of strike in the coming weeks. In Paris, a demonstration will leave at 2 p.m. from the Jardin du Luxembourg towards the Ministry of National Education. Demonstrations are announced in many other cities.