• In Gap, in the Hautes-Alpes, Mayor Roger Didier has started a hunger strike.

  • He protests against the closure of two classes in two different schools.

  • The city of Gap has 42,000 inhabitants for 20 schools and 130 classes.

One closure too many.

Roger Didier, various right-wing mayor of Gap (Hautes-Alpes), started a hunger strike on Monday morning to protest against the closure of a class in a downtown school.

This radical action comes after several mobilization attempts.

First at the start of the school year, with rallies in front of schools and the academic inspection and a petition.

The action of this elected 71-year-old, mayor since 2007, then went up a notch with an action to block classrooms in the schools concerned for two days at the start of the week.

“We had organized a daycare center with school staff and municipal daycare center leaders,” he explains.

Warned by mail by the prefect, the action was stopped.

In a press release, the academic inspection, as well as the director of the school,

announced that they were filing a complaint "for obstructing public order and the right to education".

There remained the option of a hunger strike.



“It is an extreme decision which can have serious consequences, but I am pushed into it by this lack of listening on the part of National Education”, regrets Roger Didier who, this Thursday, began to feel “a little weak", just drinking water.

22.5 children per class against a departmental average of 19.9

Installed in his office in the central town hall, the elected representative still performs his duties and details the reasons for his action.

“The Porte-Collombe school has gone from 240 to 248 students this year.

In addition, in March, 86 social housing units will be delivered to us after the rehabilitation of a former convent located 200 meters from the school.

Also, this school welcomes children seeking asylum, who were 18 last year and who are not counted in the workforce.

According to the town hall, the average number of pupils per class in this school is 22.5 children, against a departmental average established at 19.9 and 21.8 in France.

Another issue mentioned by the mayor, this school is located in the immediate vicinity of the hospital and the elected representative wishes to "provide comfort to the caregivers of a nearby school,

Another class, at the station school which welcomes students from the Ulis system (intended for students with disabilities), was also closed.

In three years, twelve classes have been closed in the 20 schools in the city of 42,000 inhabitants.

These two were obviously too many for the mayor and the municipal team.

The union of Snuipp school teachers in the Hautes-Alpes “supports the mayor in what he says”, expresses Floriane Imbert, co-secretary.

“Two classes have been opened in the south of the department,” she observes.

And to continue: “We always regret that schools in equivalent situations are not treated in the same way”.

“I am determined and we hope that this action will make it possible to reopen the dialogue with the academic inspection”, concludes Roger Didier.

In his hunger strike, which is the first of his life, the mayor is followed by his doctor who takes his constants from time to time (blood pressure, blood sugar…).


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Company

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  • Company

  • Paca

  • Primary school

  • School

  • Hunger-strike

  • Mayor