“There is no question of moving students into parallel worlds that do not meet,” says the SE-Unsa union.

“It is out of the question for any education staff to move students forward in parallel worlds that do not meet”affirmed Tuesday July 9 on franceinfo Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, general secretary of SE-Unsa, while the Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet, confirmed on franceinfo that the so-called groups “of needs”in French and mathematics, will be implemented in middle schools at the start of the school year in September.

“We know the impact very well” that these groups can “have on the school climate and on misunderstandings which can arise”warns Elisabeth Allain-Moreno. “We cannot send back this feeling of devaluation, degradation and rejection of students who are having the most difficulties. Quite the contrary.” The Secretary General of SE-Unsa recalls that Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had announced this measure “saying that it was to help the most vulnerable more and not prevent the most comfortable from moving forward”. But according to her “It is through diversity and the sharing of difficulties, the exchanges between each other, that all students, including those who are most comfortable, progress much better.”

Elisabeth Allain-Moreno wants “at least recognize” to Nicole Belloubet for agreeing to remove the notion of level groups in favor of needs groups. “She accepted this demand, strongly supported by the UNSA, to remove the word level. Because once a word is included in a text, it is much more difficult to have it removed.” For the SE-Unsa representative, the use of the word need is justified because it “sticks to the reality of what staff already do”. “Who can believe today that a staff is not concerned about the difficulties of its students and does not already try to adapt in its daily teaching?”asks Elisabeth Allain-Moreno.