The Minister of Education has announced that in the areas which will be affected by power cuts this winter, there will be no lessons in the morning. Education unions have expressed concern.
Under the yoke of a month of January at risk: in a circular sent to the prefectures, the government anticipates possible power cuts at the beginning of 2023. In this context, the government has put in place an action plan in case of load shedding. This is the case, among others, in the field of education. Minister Pap Ndiaye has indeed indicated that there “would not be (classes) in the morning” in the areas which would be impacted by scheduled and targeted cuts this winter.
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“The scheduled power cuts will indeed affect schools and educational establishments, according to three slots: 8 a.m.-10 a.m., 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and then 6 p.m.-8 p.m. in the evening, confirmed Minister Pap Ndiaye, then traveling to Educatech Expo in Paris. These two morning slots, if they are in an area that is subject to load shedding, will result in the return of pupils on the day in question to take place at the beginning of the afternoon, with no doubt a meal which will nevertheless be provided for students who are in the canteen. So there will be no school in the morning.”
Unions worried
The Minister also specified that these cuts could impact “catering and extracurricular activities in the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. slot”. “There is not yet a map of these load shedding, nor of course, including for security reasons, priority structures. We are going to work on all of this,” added Pap Ndiaye.
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For their part, the education unions have expressed their concern about these announcements: “We have the impression of reliving the improvisation and the DIY that we had known with the management of the Covid. The information arrives without have been worked on and raise a lot of questions”, estimated Stéphane Crochet, secretary general of SE-Unsa. “We feel a mixture of surprise and anger”, testifies for her part, Sophie Vénétitay of Snes-FSU, the first union of the second degree.