If the cold is, it seems, invigorating, there are still limits. And these limits, the professors of EPS of Valenciennes, in the North, estimate to have reached them. Faced with the city’s refusal to heat sports halls other than in “frost-free” mode, teachers are forced to cancel lessons to prevent students from freezing.
In an attempt to counter the increase in energy prices, local authorities are saving pennies in order to control their gas and electricity budgets. Many cities have thus decided to lower the heating temperature of their facilities, swimming pools, museums, sports halls… In Lille, for example, gymnasiums now display a temperature of 14°, increased to 16° for activities practiced on the feet. naked.
In Valenciennes, the town hall saw things differently. First, the city simply closed these facilities before reopening them in the face of revolt from users. Reopen them, but without heating them or almost.
Minimum temperatures raised to 2.5°
“Before the Christmas holidays, we raised 4° at the Vauban gymnasium where we had to play volleyball with my students,” says Sandrine Huart, PE teacher at Carpeaux college. Monday morning, when she saw that it was 0° outside, the teacher didn’t even bother to go to the gymnasium. “The coldest we have seen is 2.5°”, adds Émilie Jankowiak, PE teacher at Hainaut high school and Snep-FSU academic secretary. “More generally, we turn around 6, 8 or 9°”, she adds.
Under these conditions, disciplines such as volleyball, badminton or gymnastics are replaced by other activities. “We make them do futsal, crossfit, disciplines that keep students moving but are also very physical,” explains Sandrine Huart. Why not ? Except that school programs are no longer guaranteed and that not all children are able to perform such activities. “We had the Covid which was already very restrictive for our discipline and the students practiced little during this period”, deplores Émilie Jankowiak. In short, the students’ level of sport has dropped significantly and these very demanding disciplines are not necessarily suitable.
And if it was only in sports halls that the problem of cold arose. “We have a number of cold alerts from teachers for classrooms. It is up to the Academy to take its responsibilities to ensure educational continuity, ”insists the trade unionist. For sports halls, if “the recommendation is 17°”, the teachers are ready to compromise at 16°. What does the town hall say? Contacted by 20 minutes, it was not followed up. However, a meeting between the city and the heads of establishments must take place on Friday.