D-4 before the little ones return to class.
As announced earlier, Prime Minister Jean Castex confirmed this Thursday that the start of the nursery and primary schools will be face-to-face on Monday April 26.
For their part, college and high school students will make their return to school a week later, on May 3.
“We are convinced that the damage caused by a prolonged closure of schools is catastrophic (…) and we assume the choice” of reopening schools from Monday, April 26, said the head of government at the start of the conference.
Regarding distance education for colleges and high schools, "the site 'My class at home' has been greatly strengthened after the problems encountered", assured the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer.
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Reopening of schools on April 26: fear of a dotted recovery
The protocol in schools will be the same as before the closure of classes: as soon as a student tests positive in a class, it will be closed, confirmed the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer.
A measure which should reassure the unions - received at the ministry earlier in the day - and part of the parents of students, signatories of a petition in which they demand "strict sanitary conditions" to allow "to maintain schools and establishments open schools ”.
A target of 600,000 tests by mid-May
This health protocol will be backed up by a vast campaign of saliva tests, as the unions had already demanded.
On this point, the government considers attainable "the objective of 600,000 saliva tests by mid-May" in primary schools, said Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Before the closure of schools, 300,000 tests were carried out per week.
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Saliva tests at school: "I prefer to spit, it hurts less than the cotton swab in the nose"
The distribution of saliva tests will begin in about twenty departments most affected by the epidemic, in particular in Ile-de-France.
Finally, self-tests will be deployed for staff and high school students. Concretely, “each staff working in establishments and schools will receive two free self-tests per week. 50 million self-tests will be distributed ”, specifies the Minister. Young people over 15 will also be offered a self-test per person, once a week. Important detail: the sample will be taken under the supervision of a member of the teaching staff.