575,761 schoolchildren, college and high school students return to school in September 2022 in Normandy supervised by 38,430 teachers across the 5 departments of the region. On this pre-return day for teachers and on the eve of the return to school for students, the rector of the academy, Christine Gavini-Chevet was the guest of France Blue Normandy this Wednesday morning.
France Bleu: Will all Norman students have a teacher in front of them in class?
Christine Gavini-Chevet: “I think we can say that in our academy, all the students will have a teacher. We have been very lucky since the first degree competitions in the academy have made it possible to recruit as many laureates as we And then, in the secondary sector, we also have a lot of teachers who are with us, both to ensure that there is a teacher in each class at the start of the school year, but also to be able to provide replacements. “
How many contractual teachers have been hired in Normandy?
“Very few. We have 1% of contract workers in the first degree and 6.8% in the second degree, which is lower than the national average. And we work a lot with these contract workers on training, so that they are ready both for the start of the new school year and throughout the year. Follow-up is needed since the new contract employees have not necessarily taught and therefore they are trained throughout the year, sometimes face-to-face, sometimes in distance. And above all, they are accompanied. Each contract worker in our academy has a tutor who monitors them throughout the year. And then, there is all the work of the inspection bodies who do a job exceptional to go see them, meet them, ask them important questions.”
Are there areas in the region where it’s more tense?
“As always, it is sometimes more difficult to recruit in certain territories, because there is geographical distance. Nevertheless, today, we have managed to find teachers to go where we want. And there also has extremely attractive areas in our beautiful academy. So, in general terms, there is no major difficulty.”
What do you say to the professors holding the competition who may be resentful of this situation?
“We always have contract employees in National Education. They are recruited in an extremely qualitative way. They have a high level of diploma to enter National Education and each year, our contract employees take the competition to become holders. And a large number of them obtain the competition because they are well prepared, precisely because they were able to teach.”
The best remuneration of teachers will be the solution to arouse new vocations?
“There is no doubt. I think that the question of the salary increase of the profession of our teachers is extremely important to promote the attractiveness, the recognition of this profession which suffers from recognition both in France but also in many countries. European countries where the place of the teacher is really questioned. There will be a salary increase. You know, the President of the Republic announced that at the start of the 2023 school year, any teacher who starts will receive a salary of €2,000. This threshold symbolic, I think it is very important and we must continue to revalue teachers.”
One of the other concerns of this new school year is the lack of AESH (accompanying students with disabilities). The Defender of Rights has also taken up the case. In Normandy, do we do everything possible to support these children with disabilities?
“You know, in the field of disability, there is obviously the question of resources. It is important. But there is also this human relationship that you can have with students with disabilities and their families. Because for a family who has a child with a disability, it is a great anxiety to accompany him to school, to know how he will be able to work with others. And this is the work that we do in the academy of Normandy. I asked all the school principals, all the heads of establishments, to welcome each family which has a child with a disability, who arrives in the school to really explain the framework to him. And then, we have the means since this year, we have 205 additional AESH in the academy so that everything goes well at the start of the school year.
What do you want to say to children and parents on the eve of the start of the school year?
“I tell them that it’s a great start to the new school year, that this year there is no mask. We will go back to school almost normally and that we will all be able to see each other smiling. And so I wish them a excellent and magnificent back to school 2022, as well as to all the teachers and the entire educational community.”