"
Mum, mum, what's written on the school gate?"
Well wrapped up in a thick pink down jacket, Zoe, from the height of her five and a half years, is worried about this new paper posted in front of her school in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
“
There is writing that as it is the strike, there will be no canteen, I will pick you up at noon
”, answers his mother who remained in telework on this Thursday, January 19, day of national strike.
“
But why are the cooks on strike?
asks the blonde-haired girl innocently.
In short, the mother of the family explains that many French people are expressing their dissatisfaction today but that she should not worry about it, because her winter day will almost have a usual flavor.
Read alsoIn Education, the strike against the pension reform promises to be very popular
“
We are lucky, his mistress is not on strike, which is not the case with that of his big brother
”, she slips.
In Paris, a third of schools are closed, according to figures from Snuipp-FSU, the leading primary school union.
The neighboring establishment of Zoé's school is one of them.
"
No child will be welcomed that day
", indicates the word of the teaching team, well hung on the information panel.
A third of Parisian schools are closed due to the national strike on Thursday January 19, 2023. MLM / LE FIGARO
According to figures from the Ministry of National Education, 42.35% of primary school teachers and 34.66% of secondary school teachers are on strike, following the union's call to leave classes empty.
They were more likely to file a strike notice, still according to the Snuipp-FSU: 70% of primary school teachers had declared Monday evening their intention not to come to class.
And in some departments, the expected absence rate was even higher, such as in Seine-Saint-Denis, where 75% of teachers were declared strikers and 350 schools closed.
A movement of magnitude which approaches the records of May 2003, when the strike rate had exceeded 70% in schools but also in colleges and high schools, according to the Ministry of National Education.
“Adapt, always adapt”
For the thousands of parents of French schoolchildren, strike notices are the announcement of multiple headaches.
Aliénor, thirty-year-old Ile-de-France, learned Monday evening that the school of her two children was closed.
A nurse and married to an engineer, she had to find a fallback solution.
“
Either my husband would telecommute, but it is very difficult to follow meetings with the children or we would take a day off.
This is the solution that the couple chose, to the delight of Augustin and Gaspard, who, aged 3 and 5, therefore spent the day at home.
As part of the minimum reception service, say goodbye to pencils and notebooks, the children play and do fun activities.
MLM / LE FIGARO
An alternative that not all parents can afford.
For those who can neither keep them at home nor entrust them to a third party, the town halls are forced to organize a minimum reception, as soon as 25% of the teachers of the same school are on strike.
A large reception service set up, for example, in Antony in the Hauts-de-Seine (92).
Here, more than 70% of the teachers are absent, 159 classes are closed, thus leaving 400 children without school.
The town hall then turned four closed establishments into reception centres.
In Antony in Hauts-de-Seine (92), more than 70% of teachers are absent.
MLM / LE FIGARO
Of the 400, only a quarter were entrusted to the minimum reception service of the town hall, the others having remained with their parents.
To the north of the city, in the playground of the André Chénier school, the cries of about twenty kindergartens break the winter silence.
On the program, no maths or French but painting, games, reading or sports courses.
"It's like a day at the leisure centre
," explains Hani*, the animator in charge, noting that the school is already used as a place of reception on Wednesdays and during the holidays.
On the program, no maths or French but painting, games, reading and sports courses.
MLM / LE FIGARO
In one of the small groups, the children are in the middle of a painting workshop.
“
It's a sun,
laughs Aurore*, the roll full of yellow in her hand.
But he lacks a smile.
The side table is made of pink and blue egg cups.
If some children know each other, others come from another school and still remain a little apart.
Among them, there is Léonie, a little brunette with dark eyes.
"
It's because her friend Aurore isn't there that she's sad
," tries to analyze her neighbor, wearing two large blond duvets.
"
They are a little panicked sometimes when they arrive, they don't find their bearings but it passes during the day
", notes Delphine, one of the five facilitators for the hundred children.
Once the first hours are over, the children forget their fears and play together.
MLM / LE FIGARO
At midday, it's time for ravioli.
“
The meals are strike meals,
explains Anne Fauret, municipal councilor in charge of extracurricular activities.
It must be simple to prepare and without storage problems.
For dessert, it will be compote and biscuits.
A prospect that delights children.
“
It's so good to play all day while the others are working!
insists Leonardo*.
A time of respite which must end the next day at 8:30 a.m. when the schoolchildren will find their teachers and their notebooks.