Work more to earn more: this slogan of Nicolas Sarkozy will soon apply to teachers. Emmanuel Macron announced salary increases for teachers on Thursday. They will include a share paid to all, as well as a share paid to those who accept new missions within the framework of the “pact”. These tasks will be of different types: short-term replacement, supervision of “homework done” or success internship during the holidays, mission of referent for students with special needs, management of an educational innovation project…
Conditional increases that arouse the ire of unions, but also that of teachers. Out of around sixty responses we received to our call for witnesses on the subject, only two teachers are planning to sign a “pact”. First of all Cyril, 54 years old: “Yes, I will accept it because my financial situation is very degraded and I cannot allow myself to refuse. Ditto for Elodie, 29, school teacher: “I’m going to join the scheme because I need a higher salary. »
A refusal in principle of the “pact”
For all the others, it is therefore niet! For some, it’s a question of principle, because the very idea of conditional increases strikes them deeply: “A revaluation is not an increase in working time for a salary increase”, underlines Emilie. “Teachers must be greatly increased without compensation, if only to catch up with the consequences of the freezing of the index point for years and compensate for inflation”, also believes Stéphane.
Some even believe that this “pact” helps to devalue them in the eyes of public opinion. “Accepting extra hours suggests that we are not working a lot and that we can easily do more. Even if many consider that we are lazy, always on strike, absentee and on vacation, we are not workable at will, ”annoys Charlotte, associate professor of Letters in high school. “This reform is fairy tale powder! », Ironically, bitterly, Amélie, returning the Macronian expression.
Teachers already under water…
Another reason that prevents teachers from accepting additional assignments is lack of time. “Our working time is not limited to our presence in class. We have to prepare, correct, arrange, differentiate, tidy up, meet colleagues, parents, prepare meetings, get together, take stock, write an incalculable number of paperwork, train, renew ourselves… One or two more hours per week are not even possible in my organization! “, explains Noélie. A lack of time that often combines with difficult working conditions, as for Julie, 50, French teacher in college: “I work in REP, an hour from my home. I’m already doing overtime, extra assignments, and I’m on the verge of burnout. »
The prospect of stalling overtime also seems very difficult to imagine for school teachers: “I already do 50 hours on average per week. So no, I won’t work any more,” says Nathalie. Serge, in charge of a CE1 class, also has the impression of being under water: “There is too much heterogeneity in my class, with children who do not read correctly, and that requires a great preparation. We have a lot of materials to prepare, so I don’t have the time or the energy. »
Short-term replacements put off
For secondary school teachers, the “pact” missions will primarily be short-term replacements. This puts off many teachers, like Yann: “I don’t accept being whistled at to replace a colleague! “. Farid finds the system pedagogically questionable “Asking for replacements at short notice is a lack of respect both for the work of the teachers and for the students. Because a course cannot be improvised and therefore, we accept that a poor quality course is given. This therefore acts that it is a daycare mission. Sandra agrees: “Addressing a textbook page with students without preparation does not allow them to progress. »
Those who already take on additional missions or work overtime do not see very well what they will have to gain either. “Short-term replacement hours may be imposed on me on days and times that do not suit me”, notes Jean-Baptiste, associate professor, who today chooses his overtime hours at his convenience. Some teachers, like Jérôme, have also made their calculations: “I am already involved in the “homework done” system and I had the opportunity to replace a colleague on leave, also paid overtime. They bring me more than the sums announced for the “pact”, “he believes. Aurélie also fears not earning more: “I should pay to have my own children looked after to earn more,” she underlines.
The fear of a discord in the establishments
Finally, the teachers wonder about the way in which the “pact” will be implemented. “Only the darlings of the school director will be assigned additional missions, the risk of blackmail and favoritism is obvious,” said Jean-Baptiste. “The less conciliatory managements will be able to impose these hours as they see fit, at the expense of the family, personal, medical obligations of each other. The risks are heavy and the fact of being forced to work at will makes me hesitate,” says Rose.
Léon, electronics teacher in a professional high school, anticipates tensions: “The atmosphere will be ‘nice’ in the teachers’ room, between those who keep a little self-esteem and those who participate in the distortion of the ‘National education for a few nuggets! It remains to be seen how the heads of establishment will manage to maintain a serene climate at the start of the school year.