France: reopening of schools contested despite very strict protocol

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Repeated hand washing, wearing of a mandatory or recommended mask, staggered recreations: very strict hygiene rules govern the health protocol, published on Sunday, which will govern the reopening of schools in France from May 11. That same day, mayors of Île de France asked in an open letter to postpone the date deploring untenable delays to ensure the health security of children.

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Before arriving at school, parents are asked to take their child's temperature. The personnel proceed in the same way. The arrival and departure at school can be spread out over time.

Classrooms must be organized so as to maintain a distance of at least one meter between tables and between tables and the teacher's desk. In the second stage, it is recommended to favor the displacement of teachers rather than that of students and therefore to allocate a room to a class.

The wearing of an anti-projection mask for personnel is recommended. For nursery school pupils, it is "  to be avoided  ", for health authorities. For those in elementary schools, it is not recommended but children can be equipped with it if they wish. In the second degree, wearing a mask is "  compulsory in all situations where compliance with the rules of distancing may not be respected  ". When they are easily accessible to the whole population, parents will have to equip their children. In the meantime, the Ministry of Education will supply them to middle and high schools.

Barrier gestures must be applied "  permanently, everywhere and by everyone ".

For premises, usual cleaning and disinfection must take place according to a " thorough cleaning  " protocol  . Manual exchanges of balloons, toys, pencils, etc. should be "  avoided or accompanied by disinfection procedures after each use,  " say the authorities.

Recreations must be organized in groups of classes, taking into account the recommendations relating to distance and barrier gestures. This is to avoid the crossing of classes and students. Contact and ball games must be prohibited.

For catering, the organization of time and access must make it possible to limit the queues and crossings of groups of students in the corridors as much as possible. Catering can also be done in the classroom under the supervision of an adult.

The mayors of Ile-de-France request the postponement of the reopening

In a letter to the President of the Republic, 316 mayors of Île-de-France (one in four) deplore untenable delays in ensuring the health security of children. They call on the State to assume its responsibilities.

The mayors therefore ask the head of state to postpone the reopening of the schools. For them, "  the preparation for the deconfinement is done in a calendar with forced march, whereas, they say, we do not yet have all the information and that the directives are changing. "

In any case, they exist since the health document sent to them by the government is 54 pages.But how do you want, they explain, that we can seriously implement what is asked of us in the next 4 days (Friday being a holiday). What is more when you know that the map of France in red or green authentic for the deconfinement will not be published until Thursday. In short, for elected officials, "  this calendar is untenable and unrealistic  " and pushes them to improvise.

And then, for them, the instructions are not clear. How, for example, to choose between the children whom the parents wish to put back in school, those whose parents have to resume a professional activity, and the other children in a situation of dropping out of school? It is not up to us to make this choice say the mayors, but to the State.

And then there is the question of means. It is the town halls which will have to pay so that the health protocol is respected. Many of them are already making up for the lack of masks by distributing them free of charge to teachers who have never received them from the Ministry of Education.

► Also read: Deconfinement: the date of May 11 is not written in stone

♦ A delicate week for the government

Seven days before the deadline of May 11, the executive still has many questions to which he will have to answer: on the departments that will be deconfined, on the date of this deconfinement or on the perimeter of the reopening of schools. Questions that are sure to be asked this Monday.

The government's high-risk week will begin on Monday afternoon
with the Senate examining the text extending the state of health emergency by two months . A text criticized by the opposition and in particular by the right which has a majority in the upper house.

Lack of legal protection for elected officials, non-anonymization of health data, violation of liberties ... The Republicans could even refer to the Constitutional Council. A standoff between the government and the oppositions that will punctuate the political week since Wednesday, the text will be presented to the deputies

Another delicate file to manage this week: the date of the deconfinement. Set for May 11 by Emmanuel Macron, next Monday, it could be postponed if the indicators are not green - understand, if the health risk is still too high. The verdict will fall on Thursday. A decision eagerly awaited by the French. French people who are also numerous to wonder about the resumption of the school fixed there also on May 11. This weekend, the oppositions have multiplied calls to extend the deadline.

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• France
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• Confinement
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