“
I think about it every morning. What am I doing here ? »
During the 35 minutes on the bus, Gwenaëlle* - a young teacher at the Créteil academy - mulled over. The week of our interview, a three-year-old child went so far as to hit the young woman with a rolling pin. This “
hypersensitive
” has not yet started her third month at her school in Neuilly-sur-Marne and the exit door is already ajar. “
We must explain what the daily life of a school teacher is, especially here, in this Academy
,” insists the young woman.
Let people stop telling us that we have vacations... The violence of the children, the anger of the parents, I feel helpless.
»
Gwenaëlle is one of the 1,100 new school teachers in the Créteil academy since the start of the school year. Like her, this year, there are 2,405 candidates who are applying for the competition (CRPE) to land in the departments of Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Seine-et-Marne. A number below the 2,660 available positions. “
Créteil is an area where we are losing teachers
,” alarms Guislaine David, general secretary of SNUipp-FSU, the first union of school teachers.
No teacher wants to enter this Academy anymore because of its reputation.
»
A discount competition
Across France, Créteil suffers from its image. To fill, as best it can, vacant positions, the academy reviews its requirements downwards every year. As proof, the last candidate received in 2023 obtained an average of 4.05 out of 20. “
I got 5/20 in didactics, which is the heart of the profession. They took me and I wasn't among the last
, explains Gwenaëlle, who discovered her classification between joy and surprise.
The only ones refused are those who had an eliminatory zero.
» The academy is even targeted by candidates less comfortable with the intense revisions required by this competition.
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It is for this reason that Dylan, a young student at the Nanterre Institute (Hauts-de-Seine), chooses this area for the 2024 competition. “
The competition will be quiet
,” he says. If
I have to get 5/20 everywhere, that's fine, I'll get it.
» A situation that we find everywhere in the academy. In Villemomble (Seine-Saint-Denis), Sarah teaches in pairs with a winner of the 2023 competition, whom she considers unreliable. “
She took a class even though she got 2/20 in French,”
she complains.
How can you teach if you can't conjugate a verb correctly?
»
Even by lowering its admission thresholds, Créteil still does not recruit enough teachers. According to calculations by the Val-de-Marne parents' collective, a child at the Academy loses on average one day of lessons per week due to a lack of teachers.
“A child at the end of CM2 missed a year of lessons since CP
,” points out Amandine, the spokesperson for the collective. Only one solution remains to find teachers: create an additional competition during the summer. Thus, a person refused the competition can reapply and benefit from a position thanks to this route.
Violence and poverty
The academy's complex economic and social situation causes difficulties, which push teachers to flee the area. The Créteil academy lists 808 schools classified as REP (priority education network) or REP+. A record in France far ahead of the academies of Lille (732) and Versailles (650). All the teachers we met say they experience stories of beatings and insults on a daily basis. The time devoted to school learning is therefore diluted between surveillance, punishments and conflicts. “
You never know what will happen during the day
,” confesses Gwenaëlle, admitting to being afraid of coming back to work.
We can suspect a lack of food, home or mistreatment but we can't do anything...
Sofiane
Added to this violence is poverty. Sofiane, a young teacher from Saint-Denis, struggles with that of her students. “
Finding yourself in front of these children is psychologically hard
,” breathes the teacher, although he comes from the Paris suburbs and was educated in struggling schools throughout his childhood.
You have to build armor
. » According to him, an Academy professor must be aware that he cannot help these children. “
We can suspect a lack of food, a lack of home or mistreatment but there is nothing we can do…
” Apart from talking to the hierarchy. “
And again... What if the problems become more serious? It’s borderline if we’re not told to close our eyes.
»
“Society fantasizes about this profession”
“
When I read what is happening in schools in France, I tell myself that I encounter every problem here
,” says Jacques Gruyer, former optician who became a teacher in La Courneuve and CFDT referent for Seine-Saint-Denis. . The problems don't stop at school. Each teacher faces the lack of recognition from their administrative superior. “
It’s all well and good to tell us that we are important when a colleague is killed
,” the teacher scolds, referring to the assassinations of Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard.
In reality, it’s impossible to reach them or get even a little support…
”
Worse still, the profession suffers from the clichés conveyed by society: many days of rest and high remuneration. “
Society fantasizes about this profession
,” says Guislaine David.
Vacations and weekends are spent working.
» According to his calculations, at the start of a career, each hour of lessons requires an hour of preparation.
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Regarding remuneration, according to the union grid from last September, a teacher receives €1,840 at the start of his career and €3,390 at the end, excluding bonuses. Of this amount, it is not uncommon to devote part of it to your activity. According to the CFDT, each class at the Academy must make do with between €15 and €20 per student per year. An insufficient amount to allow children to work in good conditions, which pushes teachers to pay sums themselves. “
I arrived in front of a white room with only chairs, tables and the board,”
whispers Laura*, a young tenured professor at Bobigny.
It must have cost me over €800.
»
“How many of them will have the patent?”
Children are the first victims of teachers' working conditions. Since 2017, French students have been tested on their French and mathematics skills. The results are published according to the social origin of the school. According to the results of the study, behind-achieving students concentrate on priority networks, which are very present in the academy. Thus, 58% of sixth grade students in REP and REP+ are behind in spelling and half in mental calculations.
They don't even have CE1 skills. Among CM2, some do not know how to read
Manelle
In Bobigny, in the Robespierre school group – a school temporarily installed in prefabs – the teachers are aware of the delay of their students but without being able to overcome the difficulties. “
I can't do much more
,” explains Jeroen, small section teacher and member of the CFDT.
I am supposed to teach them 1500 words but no student spoke French at the start of the year. Obviously, I will be far from the objective.
»And the delay accumulates.
In CE2 at Sofiane's school, Manelle* says she is shocked by the level of her students. This young woman, originally from Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), moved to the Lyon area for her studies, where she completed an internship in a class of the same level. “
Here they don't even have the knowledge of CE1. Among CM2, some don’t know how to read
,
”
she chokes.
“I would be curious to know how many of them will have the certificate or, further, the baccalaureate,”
adds his colleague Sofiane.
Probably very little…”
Abandonment or perseverance?
Two paths are available to teachers: leave or stay. However, the Créteil academy does not leave with a simple snap of a finger. “
Currently, it is estimated that a transfer request is accepted after twenty years of experience
,” explains Guislaine David.
This is what we call 'Academy-Prison'.
» To limit the flight of teachers, the administration can force a person to stay in the profession. “
Even resignations, they can refuse them
,” sighs Sandrine Géron, former professor at the academy who obtained her conventional termination in 2021 after two years of procedure. “
I went through each National Education text to come up with it. Unfortunately, I was neither sick nor married
,” she quips.
Other teachers decide to persevere in this profession, even if it means ending up worn out by the task. “
It was a choice on my part to target the worst academy in France,”
comforts Sofiane.
There is a form of terrible injustice. This is precisely where we must concentrate our efforts.
» Like him, the Academy's teachers are above all former students, who have a need to help these children in difficulty. “
On a daily basis, the victories are so much more beautiful
,” smiles Manelle. Despite the difficulties, this academy allows teachers to feel an inimitable feeling: usefulness.
*first names have been changed.