Jean-Michel Blanquer and Emmanuel Macron. – Jacques Witt / SIPA
- Since May 2020, the executive has maintained its strategy of not closing schools.
- Faced with the sharp increase in intensive care admissions and cases of coronavirus, doctors and the opposition are putting pressure on the government to change this doctrine.
- The decision could be decided on Wednesday in the Defense Council, while within the government, opinions diverge.
A totem pole in danger? In the face of a new outbreak of coronavirus, the pressure is increasing on the executive. The opposition is increasing criticism against the health management of the government and Emmanuel Macron, calling on it to “assume” its failure. The Head of State maintains for the moment his strategy of graduated and territorialized restrictions, refusing the urgent calls from many caregivers to be re-defined.
But faced with the new peak of patients in intensive care – 4,974 Monday evening, more than during the second wave -, the President of the Republic could speak in the coming days. To announce the closure of schools? This red line, held by the executive since last May, is being debated today.
Pressure from the opposition
“We are the country of Europe who has closed their schools for the shortest time A few days ago, a close friend of the head of state congratulated himself. Since the release of the first lockdown in May 2020, keeping schools open has been a government mantra. But to try to stop the progression of the virus, the executive on Friday changed the rules in force for the 19 departments affected by the new restrictions: now, a single case of Covid-19 will be enough to cause the closure of a class , against three so far. A measure deemed insufficient for part of the opposition.
Sunday, Marine Le Pen thus estimated that the government could not “do otherwise” than to close the schools, “rather than wait for the classes to close one after the other”. The boss of rebels, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for his part accused Jean-Michel Blanquer of being “guilty of non-assistance to people in danger at school”, promising the Minister of National Education
the “court of justice of the Republic”, while a group of teachers filed a complaint against him on Tuesday for “endangering the lives of others”.
A red line crossed?
On the eve of a new Defense Council, Wednesday, the pressure is therefore increasing on Emmanuel Macron. But will the Head of State go so far as to question the opening of schools, a principle maintained for nearly a year and regularly put forward in the majority? “The complete closure of schools can not be a taboo, but it must remain a last resort and a measure limited to the maximum in time”, he insisted Sunday in the JDD, relayed by Secretary of State Adrien Taquet the next day in 20 minutes.
“Keeping schools open is not a totem pole. It is a carefully considered choice which draws the lessons from the first confinement and the catastrophic consequences on children “, confirms the deputy and spokesperson for LREM Roland Lescure, who adds however:” But it is true that there is a change with the English variant, which hits young people more, faster and harder. “
“Within the government, the red line is not placed in the same place for everyone”
In front of LREM executives, Monday evening, Jean-Michel Blanquer remained in his position, assuring that “the school is not the main social place of contaminations”, despite the pressure of certain doctors to close the classes. “He is not braced on his decision, but he finds that the school is the subject of an unjustified media focus,” said Lescure, who participated in the meeting. The minister will therefore try, facing the other ministers, to convince the President of the Republic to keep the establishments open during the Defense Council.
“Blanquer is fiercely against the closure of schools and criticizes the alarmist positions of certain doctors. But in government, the red line is not placed in the same place for everyone. This is not necessarily the position of the Prime Minister, ”summarizes a member of the majority. The final decision will therefore be made by the Head of State. In Paris, the figures are in any case on the rise: the number of classes closed in schools, colleges and high schools, has almost doubled Monday evening compared to the day before, from 246 to 473, according to the town hall.