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First day of school in France - in some places without a class teacher
Photo:
OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE v AFP
After two months of summer vacation, around twelve million children and young people in France started a new school year on Thursday – partly under the impression of an acute shortage of staff.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne admitted that due to staff shortages, some classes do not yet have a teacher.
»We would have wished that every class had its own teacher.
In some cases, that's probably not the case," Borne told France Inter on Thursday.
But it will be improved in the coming days.
Just before school started, there were still 4,000 vacancies.
The government had announced that it would rely on temporary workers.
However, critics complained that the training for the substitute teachers was too short.
Education Minister Pap Ndiaye, on the other hand, emphasized that 80 percent of the temporary workers had already taught.
France wants to raise teachers' salaries
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Unions are protesting what they see as poor working conditions for teachers in France.
Teachers there are paid less than the average in the OECD countries.
According to the ministry, job starters have so far earned around 1,800 euros gross, after eleven years of work the gross salary is around 3,000 euros.
Ndiaye announced that young professionals should earn at least 2,000 euros net per month in the future.
For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, French schools are no longer obligated to wear masks, only recommendations, such as washing hands and airing them regularly.
The nationwide incidence is currently 183 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week.
The latest corona wave had passed its peak in early July.
Many parents are currently worried about the four percent increase in the cost of school materials.
The cost of school meals has also increased in many places.
However, the Ile-de-France region around Paris announced that it would freeze canteen prices in secondary schools at the current level.
fok/AFP
