Young schoolchildren will return to school in masks in France.

In an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday, October 29, that wearing a mask would now be compulsory from the age of 6.

A measure voted urgently in the National Assembly, after an opinion issued the day before by the High Council of Public Health, said the head of government.

Since last August, the WHO had invited governments to consider wearing masks for young children.

But if the measure is welcomed by health professionals, it is struggling to gain unanimity within the teaching world.

“It's a bandage on a wooden leg”, sums up Louise Gury, a school teacher in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes, and member of the SUD Education union, on the phone.

“The measure was taken as a matter of urgency to reassure parents and teachers, but this risks complicating our task in class.

When they are so young, children are unable to wear the mask all day.

They will play with it, take it off, put it back on, touch it etc.

We risk spending our day coping with students, rather than teaching ”, she regrets. 

Difficulty learning to read

A concern shared by Emmanuel Ruellan, primary school teacher in Gironde.

“Imposing the mask on students in cycle 3 - that is to say those in CM1, CM2 and 6e - seemed more judicious to us.

Even if the difference in treatment between the classes could not have been understood by all the students ... It's a real headache ”, admits this member of the Sgen-CFDT union.

Another major problem raised by the profession, the mask can complicate the learning of phonetics and reading for the youngest.

“How would you like to learn to read with a mask on?

The child must learn to position his tongue and his mouth to pronounce sounds correctly.

We simply will not be able to correct them if we do not see their lips, ”remarks Louise Gury. 

Wearing a mask also limits non-verbal communication.

“We will perceive much less their feelings, their impressions.

However, children need to play with the text, to transmit emotions through reading, poetry, ”adds the teacher.

Likewise, wearing a mask may still complicate learning for autistic students.

“Visual communication is very important to them.

A few months ago, we asked that teachers and AVS (school life assistants) have transparent masks for these children… We are still waiting ”, quips Charles Allain, substitute teacher for the small section until CM2. in Paris. 

“Wearing a mask is not everything”

A few days before the start of the school year, the measure shakes up the already fragile organization of many schools.

Teacher in Nantes, Annabelle Cattoni, admits to feeling “in total vagueness”.

“We have not yet received a clear protocol from the National Education, we are absolutely not prepared,” sighs the teacher.

If the teachers are pleased to see the schools remained open during the lockdown, many are struggling to understand the government's strategy.

“From the beginning, we have been repeating that we must reduce the number of classes to limit the virus.

This requires hiring staff, giving more resources to teachers because wearing a mask cannot be everything ”, notes Louise Gury who recalls that SUD Education has been calling for an“ emergency plan for education since the spring. ”.

Among the desired measures, the union insists on the "massive acquisition" of masks by the National Education "so that they can be given free of charge to staff and students in sufficient quantity".

A request which, until now, hardly to be heard and which now seriously worries the staff of the primary.

“Who is going to pay for all these new masks?

If you have to change them every 4 hours, imagine the cost that this represents for a family, whether or not it is in difficulty!

The state must take its responsibilities, ”says Louise. 

Feeling partly neglected by their hierarchy, many teachers will have to face, on November 2, a very special return to school, between these new health restrictions and the national tribute paid to their colleague who was killed on October 16 in Conflans-Sainte. -Honorine in the Yvelines.

“That's a lot, you'll recognize.

Sometimes I have the impression of putting up with things, of being a plug in the ocean.

But we hold on and let ourselves be carried along while waiting for better days ... ”, concludes Emmanuel Ruellan.

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