On Sunday, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer confirmed that children and adolescents would go to school on Monday for the start of the school year, while many parents and unions are worried about the risk of a rebound in the coronavirus epidemic.
French children and adolescents will go to school on Monday "as planned", National Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said on Sunday, adding that Covid-19 screening tests will be "deployed even more strongly" in high schools.
"The children will go to school tomorrow (Monday) as planned," he assured BFM TV, promising a return "according to the reinforced health protocol".
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"We are going to deploy the tests even more strongly"
"We will deploy the tests even more strongly," added the minister, while concerns point to an outbreak of the epidemic with the return of children to school and the detection in France of two variants of the Covid identified in the United Kingdom. United and South Africa.
These two strains, explained the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon in the
Journal du dimanche
, "affect" young people more.
"We must therefore be very attentive to the school and university environment".
Especially, added Jérôme Salomon, that "the children return from different places, in France or abroad", which can "reshuffle the cards of the epidemiological situation".
"We remain very attentive"
Asked about these statements, Jean-Michel Blanquer indicated that the health protocol could be "accentuated" in the educational world.
"We are always able to make adjustments in the future if necessary," said the minister.
"We are very attentive, we remain vigilant," he insisted, "but we can perfectly organize the return to school tomorrow".
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Regarding the objective of bringing back the high school students to 100% face-to-face on January 20, Jean-Michel Blanquer assured that the "maximum" would be done "so that this deadline is held", depending, "obviously", of the figures of the epidemic.
Measures differentiated by region?
The minister also left the door open to differentiated measures according to the regions: "If things were to get worse in certain departments we could take specific measures. At this stage, however, it is not envisaged", a- he replied.
Jean-Michel Blanquer also wanted the teachers to be able to be vaccinated as quickly as possible "in March at the latest, if we manage to do it before that would be good".
In addition, when asked about the government's vaccination strategy, sharply criticized in recent days for its slowness, he underlined the "very great attention" paid "to the consent of people".