“She’s in charge, so it’s up to her to change the situation,” says the Peep

“Now that she’s said that, she better find a solution.”, reacts Saturday January 13 on franceinfo Laurent Zameczkowski, spokesperson for Peep, the Federation of Parents of Public Education Students. The comments of the new Minister of National Education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, concerning the schooling of her children in the private sector are creating controversy.

Friday, the minister explained that she transferred her children from a public establishment to a private one because of her “frustration” in front “packages of hours” teaching “which were not seriously replaced” during teacher absences. For the Peep spokesperson this explanation is not surprising, on the contrary it “reflects a real problem”to know “lack of teachers”.

Laurent Zameczkowski believes that “Now that she’s said that, [Amélie Oudéa-Castéra] rather has an interest in finding a solution”. He recalls that today “she is no longer simply a parent worried about her children”. “She is in charge, so it is up to her to change the situation, reverse this trend and even allow children in private school to return to public school”he insists.

Ways to revalorize the profession

The spokesperson for the Parents’ Federation therefore expects action from the new Minister of Education to compensate for the shortage of teachers. He discusses several possible solutions for “revalue the profession”. Laurent Zameczkowski considers that this is not “only a question of means”. “Money is necessary, it is a basis, but it is also [une question de] working conditions”, he says. The Peep spokesperson also considers that “less crowded classes” can allow not only “a better supervision rate” but also an improvement in the working conditions of teachers.