The Prime Minister hopes that this document will make it possible to sanction parents deemed to be too little involved in their child’s education. Its terms must be the subject of consultation.
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A plea for parental responsibility and authority in education. In a speech in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne), where the young Shemseddine had been beaten to death in early April, Gabriel Attal rolled out a series of measures intended to defeat “a addiction of some of our adolescents to violence”, Thursday April 18. As often, the former Minister of National Education placed this area at the heart of his speech, calling for the preservation of schools as a “sanctuary” : “When we disrupt classes, when we challenge authority, when we degrade, when we threaten, or even when we attack, this must never remain without consequences,” he said.
The head of government notably promised the creation of an employment contract between establishments and parents. Guest of BFMTV on Thursday evening, he outlined the outlines of this document, which aims to “remind each family of their rights and obligations vis-à-vis the educational institution and the education of their children”, explained the Prime Minister. If the question is not resolved, it “would find it logical” let the student sign it too, he added. Without specifying, however, which age groups would be concerned.
Unions skeptical before a consultation
If the student shows a “clear lack of attendance” or parents do not participate “to the education of their children.like absences from meetings with teachers, Gabriel Attal wishes that the “contract of rights and obligations” allows for sanctions. The most serious cases may lead to referral to the courts. The Prime Minister also mentioned the possibility of putting a note on the Parcoursup file of very disruptive students, and of withdrawing points from them in exams such as the Brevet, CAP or Baccalaureate.
If he wishes the employment contract to enter “in force at the start of the next school year, in September”However, the contours of this measure remain to be defined. It will be the subject of upstream consultation with “school heads, teacher representatives, parents of students”, assured the Prime Minister on Thursday.
The reactions of the National Education unions are already mixed. “I think it’s light”, declared the president of Snalc, Jean-Rémi Girard, on BFMTV, regarding the range of measures detailed by Gabriel Attal. He particularly expressed his skepticism about the employment contract, recalling that parents “have already signed the internal regulations, charters, a whole bunch of things”. “It has never reduced attacks or violence”, he insisted. An observation shared by the vice-president of the FCPE, the main parents’ association, Abdelkrim Mesbahi, Thursday evening on Europe 1 : “There are already internal regulations that parents sign each year. We do not understand these announcements made without consultation.”
THE Prime Minister “recycles a lot of existing things”, also judges the general secretary of Snes-FSU, the main union of secondary school teachers. Contacted by franceinfo, Sophie Vénétitay recalls that in certain establishments, in addition to the internal regulations, there are follow-up sheets for students who have shown behavioral problems. “In each lesson, teachers check, or not, objectives to be validated, such as punctuality, attendance or respect”, explains the union leader. Any breach may then lead to a call to order, or even temporary or permanent exclusion.
A similar proposal in a Senate report
Thursday evening, Gabriel Attal defended himself, on BFMTVto propose, with the idea of a contract, a repetition of already existing systems: “Today, in the best case scenario, the family signs the internal regulations of the establishment, but which concerns more the student in the establishment than (…) their obligations towards the student, in terms of attendance, collection of report cards, participation in parent-teacher meetings…”
This project is also similar to a measure proposed by a recent senatorial report, submitted in March to the Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet. Among the recommendations of rapporteurs François-Noël Buffet (Les Républicains) and Laurent Lafon (Centrist Union) was the idea of signing, “from the first exclusion” of a student, “a protocol for support and accountability of parents”which would specify “[leurs] commitments to enable the improvement of their child’s behavior as well as the support measures implemented within the establishment”.
The senators also proposed the creation of a criminal sanction against parents for “repeated non-compliance [par leur enfant] rules of operation and life collective of establishments”based on the model that already exists in the event of non-compliance with the obligation of attendance.
Do not force your child to go to class after receiving a warningthe National Education services, and not justify their absences or give “inexact motives” is now liable to a fine of 750 euros, or even two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros “if these unjustified absences compromise your child’s education”specifies the administration website.