They demand a “secure school under Omicron”. Seven teachers’ unions called for a national strike on Thursday, January 13, in schools, colleges and high schools. According to them, the policy led by the National Education in the face of Covid-19 is causing massive disorganization of the school system.
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“Exasperated”, the trade unions are asking Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer to hear their multiple demands, which range from the overhaul and clarification of the health protocol to securing establishments through the recruitment of staff this winter. Franceinfo returns to the reasons for this movement, after a new school year disrupted by the progression of the virus.
To review the health protocol
This is the most recent motive put forward by the unions to call a strike. In the midst of the epidemic, the health protocol in schools was lightened Thursday, January 6, which organizations denounce. Now, after the detection of a positive case in a child, if a new case appears in the same class within a period of less than seven days, students will not have to repeat the screening path of three tests, like this was the case so far.
Until now, elementary school students had to carry out a PCR or antigen test for each new positive case declared in the class, then carry out a self-test two days and four days later to be able to continue attending face-to-face lessons. Ditto for high school students aged 12 and over who can justify a full vaccination. The unvaccinated, on the other hand, must remain isolated for seven days.
This new protocol is “unmanageable”, warned Anabel Roy, departmental secretary of the SE-Unsa teachers’ union of Haute-Vienne, on franceinfo. “In practice, keeping track of the fact that children are tested every other day is already very difficult”, explains the trade unionist. “We have no internal school management tool to know who has been tested and when.” In this context, “the tension is extremely high on the ground”, warned Stéphane Crochet, general secretary of the teaching union SE-Unsa, still on franceinfo.
“We have crying colleagues who spend their evenings texting families to make them understand the new procedure.”
Stéphane Crochet, general secretary of the SE-Unsa unionto franceinfo
Several unions are asking for the return of the old protocol, which consisted in closing a class as soon as a positive case was detected among the students. It is necessary “renounce the successive reductions in the protocol implemented since the end of November”, summarizes SUD-Education in its call to strike, relayed Friday January 7 by the site LeCaféPédagogique.net. However, to date, the government excludes class closures: “We have always said that it would be the last of last resort. We want our children to be able to go to school”, repeated Gabriel Attal, Sunday, on BFMTV.
To improve safety
Beyond the health protocol, the unions of education personnel want the school to be more secure to prevent children and adults from contracting the disease. To limit contamination in schools, Jean Castex announced Thursday, January 6, the supply of surgical masks to teachers by the end of the month. Help that comes too late, according to the Snes-FSU, which also points “the fact that the supervisors of middle and high schools” do not have access to these masks.
“We are going to be very vigilant: all adults in middle and high schools must be equipped with surgical masks, or even FFP2 masks.”
Sophie Vénétitay, General Secretary of Snes-FSUto franceinfo
In addition to the masks, the trade unions want the testing capacities to be extended in the establishments. And several of them are asking for CO2 sensors to be installed in classrooms and canteens to reduce the risk of contamination by degradation of air quality. If the purchase of sensors is the responsibility of communities, regularly insists the government, SUD-Education wants these devices to be funded by the State, just like air purifiers.
To request replacements
With the progression of the Omicron variant, many teachers were infected with Covid-19 at the start of 2022: the Ministry of National Education recorded, as of Thursday, January 6, 5,631 positive cases, to be exact. , over four days. In this context of an upsurge in sick leaves, the unions are asking the government for reinforcements. “The ministry must broaden the pool of replacements to compensate for absences by increasing and recruiting additional lists as well as by recruiting incumbents”, summarizes the Snuipp-FSU, the first union of primary school teachers.
# Covid19 # EnGreveLe13 #StopMepris #ProtocolAllInfects #SecureOurSchools
Intersyndical call: https://t.co/UkgK1iDP5s @FsuNationale @cgt_educ @FnecFpFO @SE_Unsa @SUD_education @SNALC_National @FCPE_nationale @lavoixlyceenne_ @MNL_National @FIDLnational– SNUipp-FSU (@SNUipp_FSU) January 8, 2022
To alert on the organization of the bin
Behind this mobilization, the unions also anticipate difficulties to come in the organization of specialty teaching tests at the baccalaureate. Which are planned in March for final year students. For the Snes-FSU, “The time has come for pedagogical discontinuity which further weakens learning”.
“Under these conditions, how can we believe that it is possible to prepare calmly for the baccalaureate exams which are scheduled in seven weeks?”
The Snes-FSU unionin a press release
In 2021, these tests had been canceled and replaced by an assessment based on “the averages of the three final terms of these lessons”. The SNES-FSU then expressed its reservations on the continuous monitoring assessment, potential “factor of inequality” according to him.