“We can no longer find a school doctor”, laments Robin Reda, author of a parliamentary report on school medicine. A situation mainly due to a problem of attractiveness.
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“There are 300 vacancies for school doctors in the country“, points out Robin Reda, Renaissance deputy for Essonne, in his report on the situation of school medicine. The elected official will present it on Wednesday May 10 to the National Assembly and to the Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye. France, there are only 900 doctors and less than 8,000 nurses for 60,000 schools. Less than 20% of 6-year-old students pass the medical examination, which is compulsory. At 12, only 60% have had their nursing record.
>>> Education: school doctor, a profession with few candidates
franceinfo: Why has school medicine been abandoned?
Robin Reda : We haven’t abandoned it. School medicine represents more than a billion euros from the National Education budget each year. It is a budget that has been increasing in recent years. On the other hand, it is money which, unfortunately, is used to pay fewer and fewer doctors, because there are no longer any school doctors. There are 300 vacancies for school doctors in the country. The keystone of school medicine, of health at school, is the nurses.
Should we pay school doctors better to make these positions more attractive?
National Education, whether on the side of school medicine or teaching, is suffering from a crisis of attractiveness, so there is an issue of remuneration. It is not normal for a school doctor to earn much less than an occupational doctor or a public health doctor. When you are a school doctor, you are around 3,000-3,500 euros [par mois]. That’s far less than a doctor’s salary.
You are not the first to make this kind of report. Why should you be trusted?
The last very critical report on school medicine dates from April 2020. We were right in the beginning of the health crisis. It was objectively not the time, these last two years to flatten the organization of school health. Now that it’s behind us and we’ve learned a lot about the ability to work together, to collaborate, I think it’s a good time to reflect on the management of school medicine. It overlaps with this government’s two priorities: improving health and improving schools and children’s academic results.
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