A kindergarten class in Paris in 2018. -

D. Bancaud / 20minutes

  • Jean Castex suggested this Tuesday that children who can do not go to school Thursday and Friday, in order to limit the risk of contamination at Christmas, echoing a recommendation from the Scientific Council.

  • An announcement that aroused the ire of teachers, who see it as a form of contempt of the government for their work.

This is news that makes children happy, but parents and teachers much less.

The Prime Minister announced this Tuesday on Europe 1 that parents could not send their children to school Thursday and Friday, to avoid contamination with Covid-19 during family reunions during the end of year celebrations.

This measure concerns schoolchildren as well as middle and high school students.

Parents must, however, notify schools.

A decision that echoes a note from the Scientific Council on Monday, which advises those who wish to spend family holidays to self-confine for a week.

On the teachers' side, this announcement was irritating to say the least.

First by what it implies: "It is a way for the government to act that there is a strong risk of contamination in schools.

Even in September, Jean-Michel Blanquer repeated that a child was safer at school than at home.

However, we know that there are clusters in schools and we have been calling for a stricter health protocol for months, without being heard, ”storm Guislaine David, co-secretary general of Snuipp-FSU, the first primary union.

"Teachers are fed up with surprise and incoherent announcements," also fumed Stéphane Crochet, secretary general of Se-Unsa.

"Every school day counts"

Leaving parents the choice to send their children to school or not is also ticking.

“The signal sent is not good.

The individual responsibility of families is still called upon to send their children to school on these two days.

And we use school as an adjustment variable at the last moment.

But it is not a daycare, ”says Stéphane Crochet.

“The government is still sending the message that school is à la carte, even though it is compulsory.

This indicates a certain contempt for our profession, ”adds Guislaine David.

And the elimination of two school days, even before the holidays, is not trivial according to the teachers.

Especially since the students have accumulated academic delay last year because of the confinement and the resumption of the dotted class at the end of last year.

“In many high schools, where lessons are held in half-groups, each day of class is profitable to advance as much as possible in the programs.

So if some students are not there Thursday and Friday, they will have to catch up on work under penalty of being penalized, ”notes Stéphane Crochet.

“Every school day counts, especially for struggling students.

And the last two days before the holidays, the reports to the pupils are often given out.

Some will therefore be on vacation from this Tuesday evening and will not have it.

In addition, the end of the year is often the opportunity to schedule parent-teacher meetings to talk about the schooling of the students, ”underlines Guislaine David.

Not sure families grab the buck

It remains to be seen how the parents will react.

“Many of them will not be able to organize themselves to be able to keep their children at home.

This will create a breach of equality between those who can do it, and therefore protect their families before the holidays, and the others.

If we had wanted to protect everyone, we would have had to close the schools for these two days by warning the families well in advance so that they can organize themselves, ”estimates Guislaine David.

"And for this measure to make sense, families would have to be completely self-contained, which means they will stop Christmas shopping in the coming days."

I don't think many of them do it, ”adds Stéphane Crochet.

Visibly aware of the negative reactions to the announcement of Jean Castex, the Minister of Education split a tweet at the end of the afternoon specifying that "all students will be in school until December 18" and that the absences of those who would like to self-confine would be “tolerated”.

One way of implying the exceptional nature of the measure ...

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