Self-test boxes at Lepeltier elementary school in La Trinité. – SYSPEO / SIPA
- The Ministry of National Education has planned the distribution of 64 million self-tests in May and June, intended to screen people who have no symptoms and who are not contact cases.
- The pupil will perform his own self-test in the establishment, under the supervision of a health professional or National Education staff. But unions fear that the workforce is not sufficient.
- Not to mention the scheduling problems that these screening sessions will pose.
This is one of the ways to fight against the coronavirus epidemic in high schools in this May start: self-tests. These do-it-yourself nasal swabs, easy to use and painless, provide results in 15 to 20 minutes. Their plus? They aim to screen people who have no symptoms and who are not contact cases. They are only of interest if they are done regularly, for example once or twice a week. By repeating the sample in this way, we “increase the chances of detecting the virus at the start of the disease”, underlines the Ministry of National Education.
Jean-Michel Blanquer has planned the distribution of 64 million self-tests as of last week to primary school teachers, then to secondary school teachers since Monday, and finally to volunteer high school students from May 10. Teachers will be able to do them at home twice a week, but volunteer high school students will do them in their establishment. In the event of a positive result, it will be necessary to immediately isolate yourself and do a PCR test.
A supply problem?
Still, these self-tests raise a lot of questions. The educational community is first of all wondering about the delivery times of the establishments. In an interview with Sunday newspaper, Jean-Michel Blanquer said he had “already distributed more than 2 million for the 560,000 agents of primary schools”. And that “60 million” would be delivered in May and June. But all high schools have not yet been provided, as stated in 20 minutes Philippe Vincent, general secretary of SNPDEN-Unsa (union of school directors): “It seems that a lot of orders are still in China. And in my high school in Marseille, we did not receive anything. I think that deliveries will mainly start from May 10, which will cause a delay in their use, ”he indicates. Catherine Nave-Bekhti, secretary general of Sgen-CFDT, also notes a supply problem: “Last week, in some schools, self-tests were given as a priority to teachers who had symptoms because they did not have enough. “.
To be able to use these self-tests, high school students will have to learn how to use them. And there too, questions arise, according to her “The school nurses will take care of it, but at the rate of one per 1,000 students, they will not be able to do it alone”. “The ministry has promised us the help of 2,700 ‘anti-Covid’ mediators, but we do not know where they will be affected and when they will arrive,” continues Philippe Vincent.
“This will inevitably encroach on school time”
The organization of screening sessions, one per high school student each week, also raises questions. Where will they take place? “You have to find large rooms that allow 2 m2 per pupil to be devoted and which can be well ventilated. This is not obvious in all establishments, ”emphasizes Philippe Vincent. As these self-tests must be performed by high school students under the supervision of a health professional (doctor, school nurse, firefighter, etc.) or of National Education personnel, the question is also whether there will be enough of them. “It’s hard to imagine a Spanish associate volunteering to participate because he will consider that it is not his job. It would have been preferable for these self-tests to be carried out by the high school students at home, ”considers Philippe Vincent. “We should have paid the volunteer teachers for this mission,” adds Catherine Nave-Bekhti.
Not to mention the scheduling problems that these sessions will pose: “It will take at least an hour for a group, because you have to take the tests and wait for the result. How are we going to free up this time, when the pupils come only half of the school time in their establishment? “Asks Philippe Vincent. “This will inevitably encroach on school time, while the Terminale already have little face-to-face class time to prepare for the baccalaureate”, also underlines Catherine Nave-Bekhti. According to her, the ministry did not anticipate the consequences that the detection of a positive case will entail: “We will have to make the students of the class leave immediately. But it seems complicated in rural areas to bring a school bus immediately ”.
Finally, the timing provided for these self-tests is causing skeptics: “The time to receive them, to organize the screening sessions, we risk not being operational until the last weeks of May and the first week of June. Because afterwards, the students will pass the bac or will be on vacation. There may be a waste of self-tests, ”warns Philippe Vincent.