Putting one foot on the pedal, giving the impetus and keeping the balance, quite a learning ... quite a budget.
To train 800,000 young French people in the essential gestures for the practice of cycling, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, announced on Wednesday the release of 21 million euros for her project called “
generation bicycle
”.
By an enthusiastic tweet, the former LREM deputy, traveling to a school in Poissy with her Sports counterpart Roxana Maracineanu, welcomed this "
essential measure
", which will "
guarantee access to all to a more sustainable mobility
”.
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If the minister has made the use of two-wheelers her battle horse, the initiative dates back to 2018, under the government of Édouard Philippe. During the Interministerial Road Safety Committee, the very one that had established the limit of 80 km / h, the executive had committed to integrating “
knowing how to drive
” into
the school
in the same way as “
knowing how to read”.
"And"
knowing how to count
". A learning system was then put in place, from which 15,000 students have already benefited. But the project “
needed to be boosted
” by new funding, according to Barbara Pompili.
“This
funding will be used to train 1,600 monitors, civic services and volunteers,
” explains Olivier Schneider, president of the Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB), who actively advocated for the establishment of this school program of which he is the main operator. .
"
On the other hand, if we offer the first sessions to launch the initiative, the cost of training and the necessary equipment and infrastructure such as bicycles, signs, road markings, then come back to the communities
".
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Nearly 60,000 CM1 and CM2 students will be trained each year by FUB instructors by 2024, “
a big project, but all the more essential after the health crisis which created a lack of physical activity unprecedented among young people
”, welcomes the President.
Of around fifteen hours each, these training sessions will take place in three stages: "
knowing how to pedal
", "
knowing how to move
", to finally know "how to
ride independently on public roads
", with, as a bonus, a diploma of aptitude awarded to each student.
"
Parents do not improvise monitors
"
What's new in this project? For several years now, Sécurité Routière, through a partnership with the Ministry of National Education, has been ensuring the “
educational continuum
”, institutional jargon designating the progressive learning of the Highway Code from school to age. driving license.
On social networks, Barbara Pompili's tweet did not take long to arouse mockery and criticism, Internet users pointing to a “
waste
” of public money. "
Will Pompili also provide millions to teach children to tie their shoes?"
"Asks a user,"
Are you aware that 100% of cyclists living on earth have learned to balance on their own?
», Provokes another. Aurélien Véron, adviser to Paris (right), himself tackled the minister, accusing her of "
slipping the dough (...) so difficult to earn
".
"
Parents do not improvise bike instructors
," retorts
the president of the FUB
to Le
Figaro
. "
It is not only the stric
t
learning the bike,
but to create a" reflex bike "for a generation. It's a long-term investment
, ”he argues.
For its part, the Federation of Parents of Public Education Students (PEEP) sees the initiative favorably. “
When you live in the countryside or in a residential area, it's easy,
” says its president Hubert Salaün, “
but what about working-class circles? As for communities, this can only be a long-term saving, the cost of public transport amounting to nearly 1000 euros per year and per child
”. A future “
cycle generation
” already on the move, since, according to a survey by the Forsa Institute in 2018, 25% of schoolchildren use their bikes every morning. Questioned, 67% of their parents believe that, by this means, their child can "
learn to move around independently and to adopt a safe behavior among other road users
”.