Benjamin Peter 06:20, March 25, 2022

To cope with the shortage of teachers, the Ministry of National Education regularly uses contract workers.

Staff who do not have the qualifications to become teachers but who come from sometimes diverse backgrounds, most often as substitutes.

In Toulouse, the rectorate organized a Job-dating on Thursday to attract new profiles.

"Are you available quickly?"

Opposite Mehdi a manager of the Human Resources division of the Academy, and an inspector.

He holds a Master 2 of research in Letters and would like to be able to teach in college or high school.

“I would be a beginner,” he admits to his examiners.

“I have never taught in front of a class”.

Like him, 450 candidates came to this large room which hosts this Job-dating.

The Academy is looking for 80 contract workers in all subjects.

Emilie is applying for a position in mathematics or physics and chemistry.

“What are your diplomas?” asks the person who receives it.

"I hold a doctorate in Sciences of the Universe", replies the candidate.

An atypical profile for someone who aspires to become a contract worker.

A position for which she will receive 1,600 euros net at the start.

"I thought research would suit me well, but in the end I enjoyed giving lessons during my thesis much more than doing research," she admits.

"I think I can bring a lot more to students by showing them, concretely, the application of physics and chemistry."

She sees this contract position as a first step before passing the aggregation.

"I would feel useful"

Others have come for retraining.

This is the case of Pascouale.

After 30 years as an engineer, she lost her job and offers herself as a professor of technology.

"They're interested, they're keeping my resume and I think I'll hear from you soon because there are needs in techno," she explains.

"I was a manager in front of teams, it's almost the same as in front of a class. Making my experiences and my knowledge available would be a way of closing the loop, of training young people. I would feel very useful."

© Benjamin Peter/EUROPE 1

After a selection process, all are likely to find themselves in front of a class very quickly.

For some, in just a fortnight.

But for Vincent Denis, the secretary general of the Academy of Toulouse, we do not abandon them.

They will be accompanied.

"There is first of all a training process of a few days. Then they will be accompanied by the entire educational team of the establishment who will receive them and by the inspectors of their discipline who will follow them carefully", he details.

He is pleased that such different profiles can be called upon to give lessons to students.

"It's rather good news to be able to attract new profiles," he said.

The teachers' unions for their part denounce a "tinkering" to hide the shortage of teachers.

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"The future degradation of the education system"

For Pierre Priouret, the academic secretary of the SNES FSU, the need to use contract workers reveals that there is a problem of attractiveness.

"For us, this is a sign of a future deterioration of the education system," he insists.

He wonders about the training of these staff and their ability to intervene in front of students.

“Professional experience in a setting far removed from teaching does not guarantee that the person will master the qualities of the profession in which he is entering,” he says.

He adds: "In addition, we must also succeed in retaining quality profiles. However, their low remuneration can lead a certain number of them to resign. This is a phenomenon that we observe very regularly".

They would like the ministry to offer paid training in exchange for a commitment to pass the teaching competitions and to practice for several years.