Of the 850,000 teaching positions, 27,300 went to opposition this year, but more than 4,000 remained vacant. Given the lack of teachers, the educational authorities multiplied their efforts in recent weeks to alleviate it.
“We wanted a teacher in front of each student for the start of the new course,” the prime minister said on France Inter radio. Elizabeth Bornewho recognized that it is a “source of anxiety for parents” and predicted “adjustments in the coming days.”
The most difficult positions to fill are focused on child education Y primary on the outskirts of Pariswhile, in secondary school, these mainly affect the disciplines of German, classical letters, mathematics, physics and chemistry.
To palliate it, the Ministry of Education hired about 3,000 teachers -some inexperienced-, who were trained days before the “rentrée” (beginning of the course), which generated criticism and fear among educational unions and parents’ associations throughout France.
“We will have adults in the classes, not teachers,” lamented the main primary union, Snuipp-FSUwho already fears that the lack of replacements will be noticed later, from the first days of sick or maternity leave.
Low wages, high inflation
The authorities attribute the situation to the lack of “attractiveness” of work of teacher. Macron thus promised, among other measures, that no teacher will start his professional career with a salary of less than 2,000 euros net per month (about 2,005 dollars at current exchange rates).
According to an article in Le Grand Continent magazine, the salary of a teacher in France when they start their professional career is 10% lower than that of their peers in the European Union and of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
This measure, when the net interprofessional minimum wage in the second economy of the EU is close to 1,330 euros per month (1,333 dollars), seeks to boost hiring, but the unions already considered insufficient given the inflation.
The price of school supplies, at a time of price rise due to war in Ukraine, is another concern, leaving Covid-19 in the background. For the first time in two years, there will be no masks at the start of the school year.
School supplies became 4.25% more expensive (208.12 euros against 199.64 in 2021), an increase of around 15% in sporting goods, according to the annual survey of the family federation Families of France.
To avoid reviving the wave of social protests of the “yellow vests” (2018-2019), the government is striving to contain inflation and has already announced its desire that in September 2023 students from poor neighborhoods can count on basic school supplies for free.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
