Has the promise been kept? “There will be a teacher in each class at the start of the school year,” insisted the Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, at the end of August. A few days after the start of the school year, if the official figures concerning the missing teachers have not been revealed, the government still displays its optimism. “Despite a context of obvious tension on teaching posts, the start of the new school year went off in good conditions. In some academies, the situation is even better than in past years, ”said Olivier Véran, government spokesman, on Wednesday after the Council of Ministers.
But on the ground, the educational teams do not make the same observation. Even if express recruitments of contract workers were made this summer, the account of teachers is not there. According to a survey by Snes, as of September 3, there was a lack of at least one teacher in a fixed position in 62% of establishments. A problem that has hit some academies harder, according to the secondary school union. On that of Créteil, 83% of colleges and high schools lacked at least one teacher, on that of Nantes 67%, and on that of Normandy 51%. The Guyana academy seems very affected: in 12 establishments out of 45, the Snes already had 80 unfilled positions at the beginning of September.
The second degree affected first, the primary not spared
On Twitter, teaching teams also testify to the difficulties observed in their establishment under the hashtag #NotreVraieRentrée. Same story with parents of students: “The promise of a teacher in front of each class is not what has been observed in the field. And this from September 1, “said Carla Dugault, co-president of the FCPE, on Friday during the press conference of the first federation of parents of students. “We already have feedback on missing teachers. Especially in the second degree and particularly in certain subjects such as maths, physics, languages and even French”, adds Nageate Belahcen, co-president of the FCPE. “Some contract workers only received their assignment after the start of the school year,” also explains Catherine Nave-Bekhti, secretary general of Sgen-CFDT. The consequences for the pupils are already perceptible, via holes in the timetables.
The primary is not spared either: “If, on the day of the new school year, an adult was present almost everywhere in front of each class, the difficulties are beginning to be felt in certain schools”, indicates the SNUipp-FSU in a press release. Certain departments, such as Seine Saint-Denis or Val-d’Oise, would be particularly affected. Moreover, as some school teachers do not work full time, it is sometimes difficult to find a teacher to cover the rest of their hours, as noted by Catherine Nave-Bekhti: “In many schools, additional services on part-time or discharges* are not there yet”.
Replacements called to the rescue
To ensure schoolchildren’s school hours, some academies have had no choice but to draw on the pool of substitutes, tenured teachers whose mission is to supplement their colleagues in the event of sick leave or maternity leave. , for example. According to feedback from SNUipp-FSU, replacement teachers have been sent to more than 1,000 classes to ensure the start of the school year. “In Meurthe et Moselle, 243 replacements have already been mobilized in year-round classes. In the Creuse, 50% of the replacements are already occupied, ”notes the union.
The use of this pool so early in the year worries the unions: “When we need replacements during the year, it risks being already dried up”, warns Catherine Nave-Bekhti. The SNUipp-FSU is even more alarmist: “It’s a safe bet that in a few days or weeks, depending on the department, it will no longer be possible to replace teachers on sick leave”. In this case, the schools will have no other solution than to dispatch the pupils without a teacher to other classes. This will penalize their learning conditions.
For the second degree, if no substitute or contractor is available in an academy, it is to be feared that students will be deprived of certain subjects for a time. Last year, the FCPE had recorded on the site Ouyapacours “lost” class hours. “There were 80,690,” says Nageate Belahcen. Hoping that this platform will not break a new record this year…