“Things are very clear for the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and myself: the school must close last.
School should not be seen as the mother of all evils.
This is not true.
Jean-Michel Blanquer, put under pressure by the rise of the Covid-19 epidemic in schools, maintains his line of conduct: keep as many schools as possible.
The Minister of National Education announced this Friday minimum changes, which only concern the 19 departments concerned by the braking measures since last week or this Thursday.
The main announcement concerns the closure of classes at all levels from the first positive case, variant or not.
Until now, this measure only concerned nursery schools, where the mask is not worn.
It took three positive cases (or one case of the South African or Brazilian variant) to trigger the shutdown.
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Covid-19: open school ... until when?
The number of students infected with the coronavirus increased by 40% in one week in France, from more than 15,000 to more than 21,000 (i.e. a rate of 0.17% against 0.13%).
Same trend among staff, with 2515 contaminations against 1809 the previous week.
Across the country, the number of closed classes jumped by more than 50%, with 3,256 closings against 2018, out of 528,400 classes.
148 school structures (against 80) are clauses out of 61,500, including 116 schools, 22 colleges and 10 high schools.
Close canteens, "as a last resort"
"From next week, in the 19 departments we will close each class in the first case of contamination," said the minister.
This is a very important step and will result in more closures.
This will apply for all grade levels.
"
On the other hand, there is no question of closing the canteens, even if the situation could be adapted on a case-by-case basis: “The canteen is the weak link of the day, like collective catering for adults, because you have to remove your mask.
(...) If we do not uniformly close the canteens, it is because we know that they play a fundamental role in the lives of students, especially the most disadvantaged.
(…) On a case-by-case basis, closures may occur.
In the departments most affected, local communities will have the opportunity to do so in consultation with the National Education.
We are not pushing it, it is a measure that must be taken as a last resort.
"
Half-staffing in college, a measure already applied to high school in a confined area, also remains the exception: “When we do that, it means that half of the college students are without lessons.
In this case, they can have more contaminating social activities than going to college (…), retorts Jean-Michel Blanquer.
I have asked rectors to be flexible in their analysis when college principals ask for half-gauges or quarter-gauges.
"
Bringing forward the school holidays, "not necessarily appropriate"
To justify this evolution in small steps, the minister explains that “positivity in schools remains lower than in November, even if it is on the rise and that we must remain attentive.
"He also brushes aside the idea of bringing the school holidays forward," not necessarily appropriate "while there is" an increase in cases after the school holidays ".
A little earlier in the day, Guislaine David, general secretary of Snuipp-FSU (first primary school union), painted a precarious backdrop: “The situation is tense, especially in Ile-de-France and in Hauts-de-France. , because there are fewer and fewer adults to be able to accommodate all the students.
We are in a degraded mode in many places (…) the schools will end up closing on their own, because there will not be enough teachers at all to ensure their proper functioning.
"The Parisian and Ile-de-France sections of the union threaten to call on staff to strike as" the ultimate means of protecting their health, that of students and families.
The section of Val-de-Marne has already launched a call for a day of mobilization on Tuesday April 6.
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Jean-Michel Blanquer, who has announced additional replacement positions, ensures "respond positively to many demands" and "calls for unity".