“The twenty schools will remain united until the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak hears us,” exclaim Estelle Contoux and Louis Chamayou, two students from the National School of Architecture (Ensa) in Lyon.
For the past month, their courses, like those of the nineteen other Ensa, have been suspended and have been transformed into workshops, general assemblies and numerous actions to make this “historic” movement visible. “It’s the first time that all the schools have mobilized at the same time, for such a long time, for common demands,” says Estelle, in her second year of a master’s degree.
The schools are demanding “more resources to recruit administrative staff and teachers, but also to renovate their premises”, from the Ministries of Culture and Higher Education, which have jointly managed the Ensa since 2018. Senator (PS) Sylvie Robert already pointed out three years ago “the urgency of meeting the financial and human needs of Ensa” by recalling that “the average expense for an architecture student amounts to 7,597 euros, i.e. a lower investment 35% to that for a student in higher education, which is 11,670 euros ”. And this, “without any justification”.
The Normandy school unable to open
The movement started from Normandy. Upon returning from the February holidays, the Rouen site was “unable to open due to a lack of staff”, summarizes Louis, also in master 2. “For years, the boards of directors have been warning about the situation , continues his comrade Estelle. But there, we saw that we were on the verge of breaking up and that if it continued like this, our schools were going to close one by one. »
From this mobilization of “support” a reflection on each of the schools began. Because in Lyon too, there is a deficit of administrative staff: thirty people are in charge of 1,000 students. “And the buildings are built for four hundred students,” adds Louis. These premises, which date from the 1980s, are also “very poorly insulated” and have numerous water leaks. A paradox for a school of architecture, note the future professionals. “We teach with buckets that collect rainwater”, slips the student.
Supported by teachers and directors
“Ensa in struggle” is then unanimously supported by the body of teacher-researchers and the management of the establishments. In Lyon, Sophie Chabot, director since November 2021, confirms the state of play of her students despite her “delicate” place, being appointed directly by the Ministry of Culture.
“My mission is to listen to my students, to guarantee order and their safety”, she says, ensuring “to support them insofar as [elle peut] do it “. As head of the establishment, she makes sure “that they can express themselves” and “that they validate their teachings”.
“We’re going to need a lot of architects in the future. What matters to me is that they are well trained to meet the challenges of climate change,” she adds. In December, she had co-signed a column published in The world on this subject.
A date next week?
“Investing in architecture is investing in the future,” continues Louis. The students quote the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, who affirmed at the end of January that the sector was in “capacity to save our world”. “We are needed but we will not do it without means”, they say. The 20,000 future architects will continue the struggle until they obtain “the appointments requested with the various ministries”. Because since the start of the mobilization, “nothing, no satisfactory answer”, notes Louis, not demotivated for all that.
Solicited by 20 minutes, the Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday that Rima Abdul Malak will meet next week with the presidents of the schools, then their directors, to “discuss the situation”. He recalls that, since his appointment, the Minister has increased the budget and increased the remuneration of teacher-researchers. “All these actions show that the Minister makes the Ensa network one of her priorities”, underlines her cabinet. This will also be the priority of Hélène Fernandez, who has just been appointed to the post of director, assistant to the general director of heritage and architecture, in charge of architecture. A position that has been vacant for several months.