The anger is old but seems to be revived by the declarations of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. Teachers are called to strike and demonstrate throughout France on Thursday February 1 to “send a warning” to the government on working conditions, salaries and public schools.

In total, 20.26% of teachers were on strike Thursday, according to figures from the Ministry of Education.

The Snes-FSU, the leading secondary school union, had previously estimated the rate of strikers in middle and high schools at 47%, and the FSU-Snuipp, the main primary union, estimated 40% of strikers in nursery and elementary schools.

In Paris, a demonstration will leave at 2 p.m. from Luxembourg towards the Ministry of National Education, at the call of the main teaching unions (FSU, CGT, FO, SUD-Éducation, UNSA-Education, SGEN-CFDT).

Other demonstrations are planned in many cities. Some had already started Thursday morning, like in Marseille, where at least 1,600 teachers and high school students marched Thursday morning, according to the police.

“Not all AOCs are great wines”, we could read on one sign.

“The statements of Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra made teachers very angry. She made very contemptuous remarks by highlighting private schools,” Valérie Zika Dussol, a teacher in a primary school, explained to AFP from Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône). “We want to change ministers!”

“We are here to ask for an increase in salaries with an increase in the index point and for better working conditions and resources,” she added. For her, “it is also a demonstration to defend public schools”.

A “discredited” minister

High schools were also blocked in several cities, notably in Paris, Marseille and Montpellier.

“Teachers/Students same fight”, we could read in particular on a banner in front of the Voltaire high school, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, where around 200 young people from several high schools were gathered.

“I am here to protest against the Minister of Education, the fact that she remains in office despite what she does” and “also against the SNU and the uniform,” a high school student explained to AFP in first class.

For FSAOCU-SNUipp, this mobilization is “a warning to the government”, which “remains deaf” to the warnings. “The situation worsened with the appointment of a part-time minister who discredited herself,” adds this union.

The call for a strike for teachers and all education staff was launched in December, before the arrival of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra on rue de Grenelle to succeed Gabriel Attal, appointed to Matignon.

But "AOC", promoted three weeks ago to the head of a super-ministry, in which Education and Youth are added to Sports and the Olympic Games, for which she was already in charge, has crystallized the discontent of the teaching world.

The controversial declarations of the minister upon taking office, who justified the registration of her children at the elitist private establishment Stanislas by "lots of hours not seriously replaced" in the public, assertions subsequently denied by the former -her son's kindergarten teacher, still haven't stopped by.

When doubt sets in

The controversies have multiplied since then. Latest to date, Mediapart affirmed Wednesday evening that Amélie Oudéa-Castéra would have promoted a private school outside of contract which particularly welcomes young athletes when she was Minister of Sports, and supported the request of this school to go under contract with the State.

This school "welcomes a certain number of high-level athletes, it is normal that discussions could have taken place on this issue within the framework of its functions", reacted the minister's entourage Thursday morning.

For the Ministry of Education, however, "the specificity of the educational offering" of this school, Diagonale, and "the job withdrawals otherwise planned in public and private education under contract in Paris" do not "allow to contract the Diagonale classes".

Also read: The school uniform experiment, a “band-aid” on real school problems

The minister has been working to clear mines since her appointment. But even among the majority, doubt remains.

“The difficulty is that in six months, we managed to create credibility in the teachers' room. And in three days, it was over,” regrets a member of the majority in the Assembly.

Amélie Oudéa-Castéra will be heard on Tuesday afternoon at the National Assembly, we learned on Thursday.

With AFP

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