One more step towards the generalization of the universal national service, this time in high schools. The government plans to set up a 12-day internship for students in a second class from the beginning of September, Le Figaro has learned, confirming information from Politis.
All teachers or heads of high schools could enrol classes, called "commitment", in this "cohesion stay". This new form of "collective volunteering" would be in addition to the current form of the UNS which is based on "individual volunteering".
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Contacted by Le Figaro, the office of the Secretary of State for Youth and Universal National Service, Sarah El Haïry, ensures that "nothing is [yet] recorded" and that "discussions are underway with the trade unions". For the State, this new "round of consultations" aims to strengthen the deployment of the SNU in the face of "a strong demand for registration".
This cohesion stay would operate on the same model as the current SNU: the supervision of young people would be provided by both staff of the National Education, Popular Education and former soldiers. The presence of the latter is also widely criticized by the unions. "The patriotic aspect, such as the raising of the flag, the wearing of the uniform, has nothing to do with the needs of the youth currently," argues Isabelle Vuillet, co-secretary general of the CGT Educ'action.
"High school students need school, not SNU"
Four years after the launch of the SNU, trade unions are still not in favour of this scheme. And this new proposal only exacerbates the anger of the unions, especially because the stay would take place during school time. "High school students need school, not SNU," Sophie Vénétitay, deputy general secretary of the SNES-FSU union, told our colleagues at France Info. "This stay is a very bad idea because it amounts to taking away twelve days of classes from students," she lamented. For Isabelle Vuillet, "the State would do better to reinvest the budget of the stay in schools".
Moreover, the government's promise of social diversity would only be "communication", according to her. These cohesion stays would be carried out with students from the same class and the same school, which "promotes the inter-self", points out Isabelle Vuillet.
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In an interview with Le Parisien last April, Emmanuel Macron had explained that he wanted a "gradual increase" of the device, but "without making it mandatory throughout the country overnight". For the time being, the Secretary of State's office has not commented on the possible binding nature of the SNU.