"
Yes, the virus is circulating
(at school)
, but no more than elsewhere,
" began the head of state on Wednesday during his allocation.
"We must take our responsibilities"
, he continued, before announcing that nurseries and schools will be closed for three weeks, including a week of distance education.
As for colleges and high schools, they will be closed for four weeks, including two weeks of distance learning.
With an exception for the children of nursing staff, some professions and children with disabilities.
From April 12, all of France will be "
placed on spring break
".
The re-entry will take place on April 26, physically for schools, remotely for colleges and high schools, which will resume the path to classes on May 3.
"
The most suitable solution to curb the virus while preserving education"
, explained the president.
"
Parents who will not be able to keep their children or telework will be entitled to partial unemployment"
, he also specified.
To discover
Test, isolation: the procedure to follow in the event of a suspicion of Covid-19
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Covid-19: limited travel everywhere in France, closure of schools, vaccination ... What to remember from Macron's announcements
The government will have tried everything until Wednesday to spare the school community.
To limit dropping out, parental work stoppages and children's psychological distress.
The Ministry of Education has not forgotten that it was complicated to reopen certain classes in May 2020, in the face of the reluctance of some teachers and the fears of some parents, especially in working-class circles.
Between September and April, primary schools and colleges functioned almost normally, except when cases of Covid were declared there.
This is to the credit of the government.
Notable exception, however, high schools were affected, from November, by measures to fight the epidemic, since the majority of them have gone to half-gauge.
A pledge then granted to the secondary teachers' union, the Snes.
Joint pressure from doctors, teachers' unions and the media got the better of us
A source within the executive
Very criticized by the unions throughout this crisis, Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer had to fight to keep schools open, with the support of Emmanuel Macron.
In September, October, November, February, if we had listened to the teachers' representatives, we would have had to either close, or half-close, or remove the canteen ... Despite the compulsory mask, the classes isolated from each other, barrier gestures and protocols were, according to them, still insufficient.
Ambiguous, the unions, while assuring that they “
did not want and never wanted a closure
”, have continued to transmit anxiety-provoking messages to the population.
Just like the unionist from Drancy who falsely announced this weekend that “
20 parents of students had died
” in his high school.
These claims have fueled increased pressure for ten days on the government to close schools.
"
The joint pressure from doctors, teachers' unions and the media got the better of us
",
we
observe within the executive, even if, at the National Education, we continue to think that the rise concern was not really justified.
“
There is only 0.6% positivity in the students tested thanks to the saliva tests.
It's not much,
”we note, even if the closure of classes from the first case of Covid inevitably led to an increase in closures since Monday.
"
But better a closed class than a closed school
," said Cécile Frattaroli at the Paris Peep.
The vast majority of parents think so.
Because they believe little in distance school and educational continuity,
adds the representative of the second federation of parents, which storms against "
unresolved barrier gestures, gatherings, carnival, business lunches and teleworking .
"
Read also:
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In recent days, the discourse of doctors has placed the school universe at the center of the pandemic. "
The health situation in schools endangers our entire response to the epidemic
", estimated Tuesday in
Le Monde
a group of doctors and parents of students including the resuscitator Djillali Annane, the epidemiologist Dominique Costagliola and Gilles Pialoux, the head of the infectious diseases department at Tenon hospital. "
The viral circulation is important there, the frequentation of spaces is dense and prolonged, insufficient ventilation
", they affirmed. A speech contradicted Wednesday by Professor Robert Cohen, pediatric infectious disease specialist at the intercommunal hospital of Créteil, which is based on the preliminary results of the Vigil study, carried out on 4,000 children since June. According to the first results, in seven to eight times out of ten, the family is the place of contamination and the school plays only a minor role.
