Striking teachers demonstrated Thursday, January 13 all over France against the “mess” of health protocols linked to the Covid-19 epidemic. Catherine Nave-Bekhti, secretary general of Sgen-CFDT (general union of national education CFDT), greeted Thursday January 13 on franceinfo “important proposals” after the meeting between the teachers’ unions and the government, but expressed reservations about the recruitments promised by the Minister of National Education.
>> Teachers’ strike: distribution of masks, recruitment, baccalaureate … What to remember from Jean-Michel Blanquer’s announcements
Jean-Michel Blanquer announced, at the end of this meeting which lasted nearly four hours, the delivery of five million FFP2 masks “especially to kindergarten teachers”, the recruitment of 3,300 contract workers to replace absent teachers, as well as additional posts for educational assistants and administrative staff. The assessments scheduled for CPs from next week are postponed “at a time that remains to be defined with the unions”. A similar measure is being studied for the specialized baccalaureate exams scheduled for March.
franceinfo: Has the climate of trust been restored with the Minister of National Education?
Catherine Nave-Bekhti: The Prime Minister has in any case provided answers to some of our demands, some have been supplemented by the Minister of National Education. Confidence, on our side, we call for it. Care will be taken to ensure that ads translate well across all territories. We regret that it was necessary to go through the strike to obtain answers to the proposals that we have been making for many months.
What are the most important advances for you?
There are significant proposals on staff equipment in terms of masks, with surgical ones starting to be available next week, first in Île-de-France. And then, the provision of FFP2 for staff who wish it and in particular those who work in kindergarten with children who do not wear the mask. The announcement also of the postponement of CP evaluations and the fact that they will not start next Monday is important and corresponds to a request. Then, there are a lot of elements that relate to the improvement of the social. So, we hope that will be translated into facts. We will do our part in it.
Is the announcement of bi-monthly meetings between the ministry and the trade unions a good thing?
If it is followed by effects, it is interesting. We will finally have a regular rhythm of meetings that we have been asking for for a long time. We will also have the participation in these meetings of representatives of the Ministry of Health, even of the High Authority for Health, it was a request made by the trade unions.
What are the outstanding points ?
The impact of the epidemic means adjusting exams. We are not for a postponement [des épreuves de spécialité du bac prévues en mars jusqu’en juin], because we are not immune to a new wave of covid, and that would increase the evaluative pressure on students.
“There are alternative solutions, a postponement of only a few weeks or otherwise evaluating the achievements of the students.”
Catherine Nave-Bekhti, General Secretary of Sgen-CFDTat franceinfo
Recruitments [de personnel annoncés], we hope we will be able to do them. We already know that there are difficulties in recruiting teachers on contract, it is unattractive with the remuneration offered. There are academies where we cannot replace teachers even outside of Covid.