Students have returned to the benches of the University of Nantes, this Monday January 25, 2021 -

J. Urbach / 20 Minutes

  • Some of the students enrolled in the first year have returned to universities since Monday.

  • Report on the Tertre campus in Nantes, with students "stressed but relieved" to be able to find some of their teachers and classmates.

“It was like a new start.

There are even certain faces that I had forgotten… ”After nearly three months of distance learning, not easy for Johan to find his bearings.

This Monday, like a small part of L1 students everywhere in France, this young Nantes man was able to resume his way to the university campus.

After a "masked" football session, the Staps student found his English teacher whom he had, until then, hardly ever seen other than through a screen.

"It's much better to be here for concentration," said the young man, who was patient in front of the cafeteria.

Honestly, I thought we were never going to be able to come back… So even if it's only every other week, it's always better than staying at home.

"

While student distress has been widely expressed in recent weeks, this is the state of mind that reigns among the young people met on the campus, still very sparse, this noon.

After "small blows of depression and sometimes the desire to drop everything", Natacha is "really super happy" to have found her psycho friends, even if a part is missing on Monday.

"Some no longer have an apartment" and stayed with their parents for organizational reasons, advance Cyril, 18, also a psychology student.

But others have completely dropped out.

In the group, there was one very motivated at the beginning, but he has completely disappeared… ”

More than half the time still at a distance

For this resumption, precisely supposed to make it possible to remobilize the so-called "fragile" students like those of the first year, the health protocol imposes half-gauge courses, for tutorials only (groups of about fifteen), or more than the half of the schedule still out of touch.

If the large rooms, even lecture halls, have been mobilized to allow the students to respect the distances, some small bugs are already showing up.

“We have a face-to-face course that ends at 6 pm, the time at which another tutorial begins… remotely!” Says a small group.

It is difficult to see how we can be at home to follow it, especially since we must add the curfew!

"

Caroline, a law student who regularly comes to study at the BU, does not yet have this type of problem.

Because the young woman says she had "no info" on this new organization.

"We are working hard so that all L1 students [around 9,600] from all components can return quickly, in the next few days at the latest," says Arnaud Guével, vice-president of training.

But we are also asking the government to go further.

Our 38,000 students are now in difficulty, it is urgent that all can be welcomed again.

"

" I hope it will last "

For Ghazaleh, crossed in front of the Student Center, it was indeed a necessity.

This 27-year-old Iranian, a French language student, had arrived in France only a month ago when confinement was decided.

“I don't have any family here, just a few girlfriends.

And the situation was very difficult, she explains calmly.

I was tempted to return to my country but there was too great a risk that I could not return, so I preferred to wait, all day, behind my computer.

Fortunately, the lessons were also able to resume for her face-to-face since Monday morning.

"I am relieved but stressed", smiles the one who does not hide her fear of "new confinement".

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A gradual recovery

For the second semester, a student will have "the right to have 20% of his time in face-to-face, or one day out of five", and this, while respecting a maximum level of 20%, recently indicated Emmanuel Macron.

It will be up to each university to decide the number of students who can come to class, depending on the number of students in each sector.

  • Nantes

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19

  • Society

  • University

  • Confinement