A school at the start of the 2020 school year. -
UGO AMEZ / SIPA
In Marseille, a few schools are closed for Covid.
Most are because of a lack of personnel to apply the health protocol, whether on strike or understaffed.
The agents denounce degraded working conditions.
Parents of students are calling on the town hall to be more transparent about the situation and to co-construct solutions, in the spirit of Printemps Marseille.
On the town hall side, we put forward “the absolute priority” to protect health, and the recruitment of 348 agents.
"Do you have any news for tomorrow's strike?"
“In Marseille, SMS and WhatsApp messages have been going well between parents of students since this return to school under the sign of Covid and social movements.
Because to the days of national action at the call of the CGT, is added a notice of strike, also national, deposited by Sud Solidaires and which runs for the whole month of September and soon October.
However, the city closes schools as soon as it considers the staff insufficient to apply the national education health protocol.
This Tuesday, it was this time a local CGT action march for employment and dignity (yes, we must follow ...).
Nearly 110 schools were closed all day and 94 during canteen time, out of the 470 public schools in Marseille.
Not to mention the three schools closed due to Covid.
"Two agents to clean up an entire school"
"We are inundated with calls from ATSEM who are fed up both psychological and physical, this is the first time that we have received so many", breathes Zaher Benrezkallah, representative of South Territorial Collectivities in Marseilles.
The notice given by his union allows any agent to go on strike, even if he is not affiliated with the union.
For its part, the majority FO union has not called for a strike, even if it recognizes that "people from our region have recourse to it".
"When they are two agents to clean an entire school, it is not tenable, denounces Arabelle Lauzat, head of the school section of the FO territorial of Marseille.
We started the year with open positions.
"
Among the parents of students, yet broken with repeated canteen strikes, anger rises in the face of a situation that has become untenable: school closures were sometimes announced the day before for the next day.
"There are schools that close every day, not because of the Covid but because we are understaffed," says Séverine Gil, president of the MP13 parents' association.
Should we accept, resign ourselves, that in Marseille we close an entire school because there is a lack of staff to clean?
It is inconceivable.
It is believed that the municipality has no visibility and is sailing on sight.
Why do we not use, as after confinement, temporary workers to clean the toilets?
"
“They receive us but don't tell us anything.
"
"The health protocol has been relaxed, however we find ourselves facing closed schools," abounds Cécile Baron, from the Marseille schools collective.
We do not know what are the criteria of the town hall to decide to close a school.
Sometimes they were when 70% of the team was in place.
"The discourse of this collective, committed for a long time against PPP, is also political:" The idea of the Marseille Spring was co-construction, consultation, that would be a good opportunity to put it in place. .
They receive us but don't tell us anything.
We are asking for transparency.
We want to know which personnel are assigned to each establishment, which personnel are present.
The vagueness feeds incomprehension and confusion.
"
New assistant in charge of Education, Pierre Huguet recognizes "that there may have been a school on the margins where there was an error in reporting information on the staff present".
"The decision to close depends on the configuration of the school, whether it is small or large, the workloads are not the same, each situation is unique," he adds.
“The city's top priority is to protect the health of its schoolchildren and staff,” assures Pierre Huguet.
To achieve this, we strictly apply the health protocol imposed by the State.
The city also explains that it has recourse to private companies and agents from the town halls of sectors, and it is counting on the 348 newly recruited agents.
In the meantime, parents are planning to file an appeal against the school closures.
"There will be actions", also promises Séverine Gil.
The idea of a human chain between the schools of Montolivet and Bois-Luzy is mentioned.
However, there is no question of “playing against each other”: “We are also fighting for the lack of personnel in schools,” she recalls.
The canteens closed, it was a hassle, but we manage.
There, these closures are unique in France.
After three months of Covid where the children did not go to school, it is unthinkable for us.
The school must remain open, it is an essential public service.
"
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