Lionel Gougelot // Photo credit: NICOLAS GUYONNET / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 7:55 p.m., February 15, 2024

The reform of the school map is already raising eyebrows. In the Somme, around sixty schools are affected by the closure of one of its classes at the start of the next school year, including in priority education networks. As in the Michel-Ange primary school, in a working-class district of Amiens, parents are mobilizing. 

Nearly 60 schools in the Somme department are expected to have at least one class removed next year. Anger is rising almost everywhere, both among parents and among teachers. In this school, a distribution of leaflets took place calling for a demonstration. 

“It’s not possible to close classes like that”

“There is a small gathering this afternoon in front of the rectorate. We will have another one next week,” assures this man. Because in this school classified in a REP + zone (Priority Education Network), a primary class risks disappearing: “We really need to get moving, we will end up with CM2 with 28 students”, explains -he. “We are still in a priority zone, perhaps not the worst in Amiens, but it is not possible to close classes like that,” protested a mother. 

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For this mother of a hearing-impaired child, this decision could have consequences: “He needs this school and with fewer children in the classes.” This decision will also have consequences for teachers. This is the case for Karima who already knows that she will have to look for another assignment next year: "I'm going to have to leave, I don't know where I'm going to end up knowing that the position suits me very much. We're going to break a team is a waste. I can't imagine classes at 28". 

For Audrey, this decision makes no sense given what is said about the academic level of French students: "We complain that the level of education of children is starting to drop, but if we don't give them already lucky in small section or elementary, we won't be able to move forward. After a while, you have to say stop." A mother is obliged to note that the priority for National Education, declared by the government, is not seen in reality here.