Schools to reopen on Tuesday but not yet for everyone

As of Tuesday, June 2, "all the schools will be open and therefore, all the municipalities that have not yet opened their schools will open ... at least for part of the week," said Thursday, May 28, Jean-Michel Blanching. Since May 11, more than 80% of schools have reopened. But they currently only welcome 22% of French schoolchildren. Conversely, around 4% of students in France have “dropped out”, according to ministry statistics, with wide variations according to geographic areas. The reopening of schools is "a social emergency", the Minister of Education insisted. "After this beginning of May we have to reach an amplification in June", said Jean-Michel Blanquer again. He assured that all families who so wish should be able to send their children to school, at least for part of the week.

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If all the schools will have to reopen on Tuesday, that does not mean, far from it, that all the pupils will be able to be welcomed there. "No, all the schools, currently closed for health reasons will not reopen with magic wands , " also reacted on Friday Snuipp-FSU, the first primary union. "No, not all students can be accommodated, even partially, with the requirements of the health protocol that only scientific and medical authorities could modify," warns the organization. "We can never go beyond 40% of children admitted, " for his part acknowledged to AFP Patrick Bloche, the assistant to the mayor of Paris in charge of education.

We are still in an epidemic situation, we must remain rigorous in terms of compliance with health rules

The health protocol is particularly strict: it combines a multitude of constraints such as respecting a minimum distance of one meter between pupils or the number of pupils limited to 15 children per class in primary school. “The current organization hangs by a thread; if we add more staff, it no longer works , ” also warned Agnès Le Brun, spokesperson for the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), in charge of education, during the week. In her view, it is difficult, for example, to go from two canteen services to three, or to further increase the rate of cleaning of the premises.

But the device will not be lightened before the summer holidays, insisted this Friday morning Jean-Michel Blanquer. "We are still in an epidemic situation, we must remain rigorous in terms of compliance with health rules, it is likely to reassure parents because one of our challenges is to bring children to school," said the minister. questioned on Franceinfo. "I was criticized three weeks ago for wanting to reopen the schools, now I am told that it is not going fast enough, not far enough, we are moving forward, the month of May was a month of start with inevitably imperfections and June is a month of consolidation. ” And half-heartedly recognize : "I am launching a major consultation in June with parents, representative organizations, elected officials and also students to reflect on this way of organizing the start of the new school year so that this time, all students can go to school, " announced the Minister.

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By then, the situation should not be so much better in June for the parents of students, who will remain trapped between their children and their work.