This government track for the Universal National Service encourages second-grade teachers to apply for a 12-day “cohesion stay” for their classes, in uniform and during school time.
As part of the generalization of the Universal National Service (SNU), one of the new avenues envisaged by the government is a 12-day course on school time for second-year students from the start of the school year in September, learned Thursday, May 18 the franceinfo political department at the office of the Secretary of State for Youth, Sarah El Haïry, confirming information from Politics.
Several teachers’ unions were received this week at the office of the Secretary of State for Youth, Sarah El Haïry, to discuss this track. According to the project, all high school teachers will be able to submit an application for their second class to carry out a “cohesion stay”, in uniform and on school time. Participating establishments will send one or more classes to a center near the school. Each center has its own specialty: memorial issues or ecological transition for example. All transport or accommodation costs will be borne by the State.
On the other hand, all these 15-year-old students will not ultimately be distributed throughout the country, a far cry, therefore, from the ambition of mixing and geographical and social diversity originally promised. On April 23, Emmanuel Macron had thus advocated a “gradual increase” of the UNS and “an approach that recreates the collective, a rite where we mix all regions and categories”.
Contacted by franceinfo, the office of the Secretary of State for Youth, Sarah El Haïry, did not specify whether this internship would be compulsory or not. And the executive tempers: no question of throwing oil on the fire in the midst of the 100 days of appeasement wanted by Emmanuel Macron.
The very critical SNES-FSU
Sophie Vénétitay, deputy general secretary of the SNES-FSU union, believes on franceinfo that high school students have “more need for school than that” : “We do not advance a society by taking away hours of lessons from students”. She also asserts that the promises of “Diversity” made by the executive to promote the UNS would only be one “screen”, the course is only open to students of French nationality.
“Behind the SNU, there is this idea that young people should be supervised, should be taken in hand for the transmission of the values of the Republic. All that is done at school and for that, we must put the means in the “school, in colleges, in high schools. We must give young people prospects for the future rather than trying to format them.”
Sophie Vénétitay, Snes-FSUat franceinfo
Sophie Vénétitay denounces a form of“instrumentalization” teachers and tip “the cynicism of the executive” : “To encourage us to accept this mission, we are dangled with a bonus as part of the teacher ‘pact'”. This “pact” announced by Emmanuel Macron on Thursday April 20 provides for the organization of additional missions for teachers, allowing them to obtain a bonus. “Finally, we are given a bit of a financial carrot to try to remove reluctance, as if we could be bought off to engage in something that is contrary to our values.”
A “petaudiere”, denounces Alexis Corbière
Friday, on franceinfo, Alexis Corbière (LFI) was also very critical, describing the SNU as “petaudière” and of “DIY”. “It is out of the question that we remove 12 school days from our students, on the contrary we must add more, we need more teachers, and woe to those who want to engage in such a policy.”
A Senate report, published in early March, recommends “stay” to the generalization of the SNU “in view of the uncertainties” of the project, particularly in terms of costs, “probably more than 2 billion euros”.