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Ile-de-France: all second students will receive a computer at the start of the school year

2020-08-25T20:52:11.413Z


The Ile-de-France region announced on Tuesday that it would distribute a computer at the start of the school year to all second-grade students enrolled in the


This year, second year students from Ile-de-France will slip a new tool into their backpacks to go to class. The Ile-de-France region, in charge of managing high schools, has decided to distribute a computer at the start of the school year to all adolescents attending school at this level.

The community had left the choice to the educational teams of the establishments last year to go digital or not. But this year, she has decided to take control of this issue.

"The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced the digital divide"

“The Covid-19 crisis has reinforced the digital divide within our territory. During confinement, we saw that young people only had their cell phones to stay in touch with their school. Students must be able to telework if they need to. So we decided to give them a computer. Only parents will be able to oppose it if they wish, ”said the boss of the region, Valérie Pécresse (Libres!), During her press conference back to school on Tuesday morning.

Last year, 50% of Ile-de-France students attending second and first year classes had been equipped. The rate will climb to 73%. In total over two years, 340,000 computers and tablets built by the Ile-de-France company Unowhy will be distributed at a total cost of € 180 million. Students will be able to keep the equipment at the end of their course. "We are forced to replace National Education in this file," regrets Valérie Pécresse, who says she has taken stock of the first year of deployment of these new digital tools.

The tablet less efficient than the computer

“Last year, the teaching teams had mostly opted for tablets, but we realized that it was not as efficient a tool as computers. Suddenly, this year, we will distribute computers to students of general and technological high schools. In vocational high schools, teams will remain free to choose between tablets and computers, because the lessons there are different. A tablet makes it easier to film, for example, ”she describes.

“Valérie Pécresse is finally taking into account what we've been telling her for months. Namely that a computer is much more useful than a tablet! "Quips Yannick Trigance, elected from the socialist opposition to the regional council, who criticizes the" communication frenzy "of his opponent. “Last year, the region communicated a lot about the deployment of these tablets, but in fact, the equipment had sometimes arrived several weeks late in the establishments. There were also internet connection problems. "

Wi-Fi in all high schools by March

“Equipping students with digital technology is good, but there still has to be wi-fi in the school,” confirms Mathieu Logothetis, co-secretary of the SNES-FSU teachers' union at the Créteil academy ( Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Seine-et-Marne). It should soon be done. On Tuesday, the region announced that all high schools should be equipped with wi-fi by March 2021.

The union official also pleads for computers. “The only advantage of the tablets is that they take up less space, but they weren't suitable. They did not have enough memory to store all digital textbooks. Afterwards, computers and tablets both still pose technical concerns, especially in terms of battery. Classrooms have very few electrical outlets, they are not designed for that at all, ”he points out.

Train teachers, parents and students?

For its part, the association of parents of students FCPE 93, which mobilized during the confinement to equip the students of Seine-Saint-Denis with computers, welcomes the decision of the region. “The choice of the computer should also be systematized in vocational schools, because it is a much more useful tool than the tablet. It is important that young people know how to use it for their future, ”says Anne Pieter, its co-president, who campaigns for teachers, parents and students to be trained at the start of the school year in all the tools to facilitate distance schooling.

This mother regrets, however, that the region does not support the insurance of devices which remains the responsibility of the families. “Last year, we heard from parents who refused to equip their child because they could not afford it. The region states that insurance is recommended, but not mandatory.

New for the start of the school year

Free masks. At the start of the school year, wearing a mask will be compulsory inside high schools, for both students and teachers. The region has decided to distribute two cloth masks free of charge to all students. "We will renew these masks as often as possible", promises the patron saint of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse (Libres!), Who regrets that the National Education has not decided to give them on her side.

A fourth regional security brigade . As of April 2019, the region had set up three regional security brigades. These intervention groups, made up of a coordinator and four agents, travel to high schools at the request of school heads in the event of violence or intrusions. These three brigades, whose creation had been strongly criticized by the left wing of the regional council, are based at the Bartholdi high schools in Saint-Denis, Samuel-de-Champlain in Chennevières-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne) and Jean -Jaurès in Argenteuil (Val-d'Oise). “Since their creation, they have carried out more than 250 interventions in 131 high schools. They are very useful and in demand, which is why we have decided to create a fourth, ”explains Valérie Pécresse. It will be installed at the Charles-Beaudelaire high school in Fosses (Val-d'Oise) and will work in the Val-d'Oise, Seine-Saint-Denis and the north of Seine-et-Marne.

Distributors of tampons and towels. Dispensers of organic cotton sanitary napkins and tampons will be installed in the toilets of 30 establishments in the fall. Their deployment will continue for the rest of the school year. “More than one in three young girls from Ile-de-France do not change enough intimate protection because they do not have the means, points out Valérie Pécresse. This has an impact on their school life and even consequences on dropping out of school. It was therefore necessary to take up this problem. "

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-08-25

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