Coronavirus: in Brittany, how instits and students understand lessons at home

Text by: Anne Bernas Follow

From Monday in France, to fight against the spread of the coronavirus, pupils and students will no longer sit on the benches until further notice. In Brittany, 612,000 pupils and 128,000 students are affected. How is this exceptional event presented? The point in the Morlaix region, in Finistère.

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" I'm too happy! It's too good! Like Martin, a CE1 pupil in Plougasnou, the majority of children were delighted Thursday evening with the measures taken by President Macron regarding school closings. However, the end of recess will soon strike, because from this Monday lessons must be provided remotely, from kindergarten to high school.

" The atmosphere was really special," says Céline, a school teacher in Plouigneau. We tidied up the business as if the summer vacation began. But the heart was really not there. It was gloomy… ”

Noé, a 13-year-old college student in Morlaix, realized that he couldn't spend these weeks between Netflix and the Nintendo Switch game console, " because in fact, mom will be there all the time ." His big brother, who is taking the bac this year, already knows that certain courses will be provided on the usual days and times, even the courses which start at 8:00 am In his high school, they obtained access codes to follow certain subjects thanks to Cned, the National Center for Distance Education. Online exercises adapted to the programs and a "virtual class" where the teacher can teach his students by videoconference. Students also have at their disposal the intranet network of their college or high school. This system has already been used in the Morbihan clusters.

Leave no student on the side of the road

But the contours of this measure remain somewhat vague for the moment, mainly for primary school teachers who very rarely use this kind of method unlike those in secondary school.

Another pitfall: in rural areas, far from the big cities, the internet connection is very often very random. And not all homes have computers. In a joint statement on Friday evening, the Ministry of National Education and the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) recalled that " wherever necessary, town halls and certain schools will organize help lines to pass on to pupils who cannot do not have adequate equipment or sufficient internet connection of the educational resources in paper format prepared by the teachers . ”

“ In my school, says Céline, if this case occurs, we will indeed hand over the course materials to the parents concerned. The educational team will meet on Monday to put things in place, for the moment the information we have is patchy. "

Some teachers also understand the differences in levels that will be felt upon effective return to class. In school, in fact, not all parents are able to help their children, whatever their age. " 5% of families do not have the Internet level " to be able to teach, notes Emmanuel Ethis, rector of the Academy of Rennes. However, we will have to leave no one by the wayside.

Exceptions for some children

As in the rest of the country, in order to keep the healthcare system in working order, an exemption was made for the children of caregivers. " A census has been made and potentially, a little less than 100,000 children up to 16 years old can be accommodated, " announced the prefect of Brittany, Michèle Kirry, at a press conference on Friday. " There are some in each class, in each school," explains Céline. They will be kept on a voluntary basis. Schools are expected to accommodate between eight and ten each.

If the machine therefore seems more or less well oiled for the teachers, it is not the same for the maternal assistants who keep the children at their home. Mathilde * is one of them, she takes care of young children in the Morlaix region. " We are basically told that we are not afraid of anything !" No measures have been taken about us while every day we take care of children who rub shoulders with others, etc., ”she protested. This maternal assistant will therefore continue the work she loves, but deeply regrets the lack of state support and the non-response to her questions.

Brittany was among the first regions in which “clusters” were detected (in Morbihan). According to the prefecture, the region had three deaths and 157 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Friday evening March 13. Twenty-two cases were identified in Finistère by the ARS, as of March 13.

" Happy holidays, " exclaimed many parents facing the teachers on Friday evening after school. An unprecedented period which starts on March 16 and which will visibly resemble, for children, teachers and parents, everything except holidays.

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Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

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