Paris (AFP)

In the aftermath of the national tribute to the murdered professor and the indictment of seven people by an anti-terrorism judge for "complicity in assassination", Jean-Michel Blanquer launches Thursday a "Grenelle of education" supposed to put more teachers "at the center of society".

The tragic fate of Samuel Paty, 47, has brought to light the difficult teaching profession.

The history-geography teacher was beheaded by an Islamist assailant on October 16 near his college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), ten days after showing his 4th year students caricatures of Muhammad during his lesson on freedom of speech

"There, we really need civil society to get its act together, we need a united front without demagoguery, and it will have to go through us, through National Education, through better consideration, because we are at the front with young people ", underlines Catherine Prévost-Meyniac, an eco-management teacher who came from Angers to attend the tribute

The Grenelle education, which should lead in three months to an increase in teachers' salaries or even additional protection measures, was already on the ministry's agenda.

But it has been revised since the assassination of Samuel Paty to put more emphasis on "the professor at the center of society".

- Protection of teachers

"Today, there is a subject of protection of teachers but also of recognition of teachers. This question existed before and we must provide an answer, which is why we have been working for several months with the unions on what we are doing. call the social agenda and this leads (...) to the Grenelle education, which will begin as scheduled tomorrow, "Jean-Michel Blanquer announced Wednesday during questions to the government in the Senate.

The Grenelle education "is based on key words, that of financial recognition, cooperation, that is to say teamwork, modernization and protection", detailed the Minister.

Beyond this increase, "which will particularly affect the youngest, but which could also affect all teachers, is the transformation of our system, especially for local human resources, in other words a system of national education much less anonymous, much more attached to what happens to each teacher and to follow him in his career, which will show the gratitude of the country to all the teachers and beyond all the measures that we will take ", a Mr. Blanquer added.

"The national leap must lead us to consider that the teacher is central in our society and that each of us in our life as parents of students, of citizens, must respect the teachers and have speeches that put the teacher at the center of our society, ”he said.

- Reason for satisfaction -

Among the seven people indicted for the assassination of Samuel Paty are two students aged 14 and 15 from the college where he taught and a parent of a student who had called on the internet for mobilization after Mr. Paty's lessons on the freedom of expression.

Before the Grenelle education, a meeting will take place Thursday morning with the teachers' unions to discuss the day of November 2, which will correspond to the start of the school year after the All Saints holidays.

Asked about the content of this day, Jean-Michel Blanquer has already asked "all elected officials of the Republic, municipal councilors, mayors, senators, to be present with teachers on the day of this return. ".

The 2021 budget of the ministry has been increased by 400 million euros (500 million in a full year), in order to increase the salaries of French teachers, which is 7% lower at the start of their career than the average for the countries of the Organization of economic cooperation and development (OECD).

The budget increase must finance various bonuses, in particular an attractiveness bonus (260 million euros for a full year) targeting early and mid-career staff, as well as a computer equipment bonus (178 million euros ) 150 euros net annually for each teacher.

The unions recently noted a cause for satisfaction: wage increases will not be conditional on increased working time or other compensation, as they feared.

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