It’s a shocking proposition, “the only way to get out of it,” they say. Gathered in a general assembly, the staff of the Faculty of Law of Nantes, including the dean, decided, by a majority, to call for the reduction of 25% of the reception capacities of students from next year, in License 1 and Master 1. This surprising recommendation, which must be discussed Thursday in the management council, was presented to a hundred students during an information meeting on Tuesday. “Maybe you don’t realize it, but we can’t take it anymore, we’re exhausted, coward at the microphone Paul-Anthelme Adèle, lecturer in social law. Administrative tasks are taking up more and more of our time to the detriment of teaching and research, the workload is piling up… It is reluctantly that we formulate this idea, but it’s either that or we continue to see colleagues fall. »
Since several years, unease would be growing among these personnel. Anxiety disorders, isolation, sick leave… A year ago, an alert for serious and imminent danger to mental health was issued to the CHSCT. The cause, according to these teachers, to a particularly low staffing rate at the Nantes law school: 3 staff for 100 students, while the national average, all sectors combined (the UFRs of science and technology are traditionally better endowed) , is about 8 in French universities. “The groups have gone from 25 to 35 students, testifies a TD manager. We no longer correct copies, we slaughter! “” I work until midnight, Saturdays and Sundays, deplores in the gallery Virginie Gautron, lecturer in public law. Even when I was on sick leave, I had to take care of the corrections to relieve the colleagues. »
The presidency recognizes a “worrying situation”
Tired of asking, in vain, for additional means, these personnel therefore took the problem the other way around. “If we simply want to be able to work normally, we must reduce the number of students”, summarizes Frédéric Allaire, professor of public law. A “safeguard” measure yet contrary to “the conception of public service” of these teachers, which does not convince all the students who came to inquire on Tuesday. “What you are describing dismays me, but this decision will have the consequence of increasing the selection even further”, thinks a Master 2 student. Others, who realize that the exhaustion of their teachers can have an impact on the quality education, mention “petition”, “strike”, or “letters to politicians” to try to sensitize the ministry and avoid this drastic decision.
On the side of the presidency, we recognize that “the situation is worrying and taken very seriously”. But for Arnaud Guével, vice president of training at Nantes University, this reduction in reception capacity for 2023 is a plausible hypothesis in “reasonable proportions”. “Our room for maneuver is very limited because it is the rector who will make the final decision,” he says. Nevertheless, the president of the university has committed to reinforcements over several years. If a reduction in reception is decided, we will therefore do everything to ensure that this decision is not frozen and that we can gradually return to normal. In this new school year, the first year of law degree offered 600 places. Twenty of them have not been filled, according to the presidency.