“Knowing how to read changes your life!” : return to school for the gypsy children of Marels and Montaubérou in Montpellier

Julie Elzière, UPR (Educational Success Unit) teacher at Port-Marianne college with 42 children from gypsy families. FREE MIDI – JEAN MICHEL MART

The gypsy public has long been singled out as being “difficult to educate”. Absenteeism, very present among gypsies, leads the academy to think of another pedagogy, another approach, as has been the case for two years at the UPR of Port-Marianne college.

The new Port-Marianne college welcomes around forty children from gypsy families from the Marels and Montaubérou districts through its UPR (pedagogical success unit) from 6th to 4th grade, the new college not opening its division 3rd year from the start of the 2024 school year.

Fearful and overprotective families

Some of them will probably never cross the threshold. Although it is difficult to quantify the population of these sectors, it is estimated at around a thousand.

It is therefore a small part of the children who are enrolled, the power of traditions favoring a particular approach to education, outside the legal framework. "The gypsy public has long been singled out as being a marginalized public",poses Frédéric Miquel, head of CASNAV (Academic Center for the Education of Newly Arrived Allophone Students and Children from Itinerant Families and Travelers).

Frédéric Miquel, Head of CASNAV and the academic mission of educating children from gypsy families and Olivier Bédu, principal of Port-Marianne college. FREE MIDI – JEAN MICHEL MART

In March, he organized a series of meetings as part of the academic mission of schooling, between members of gypsy families, associations, teachers, directors, etc. to talk "not about the school for gypsies, but about the school for everyone, whether you are a gypsy or not! Who better than them to talk about them!".

Society is afraid of it, the gypsies are afraid too: everyone is afraid!

Families develop overprotection towards their children and "many are afraid", underlines Estelle Panné, head of APAJ (adult and youth support center)."There is a form of distrust towards institutions. If the school and society are afraid of the gypsies, the gypsies are also afraid of them. School is not always this place of professional success, it is the family which provides for it through professions that we reproduce, it is also more reassuring . For girls, the community may look judgmental if she goes to school when she should be caring for a sick parent, just like caring for a sick parent. it was a choice. Being with family is always better perceived."

Rap for writing and reading

The hope of a possible reconciliation takes shape in the class of Julie Elzière, UPR (Pedagogical Success Unit) teacher at the college, recruited for this position for literacy and academic delay.< /p>

On this Friday, we write rap, a playful posture to reduce cultural distance. Not all gypsies are Catalan rumba singers. "A sound engineer has been with them for six weeks, they have produced a soundtrack and a rapper is helping them to write the lyrics. A vocal coach will come sing and record with them".

The UPR class is working on a text to put to music with the help of a sound engineer. FREE MIDI – JEAN MICHEL MART

Dawson, 14 years old: "We have the best teacher!"

They are between 11 and 14 years old, and are assigned to this class for 2 to 8 hours per week, "according to needs". "I’love coming here", the talkative Dawson brightens, "it’s hard because that we don't have the level but we have the best teacher, she takes the time. Dawson is also the best reader in the squad, reason for which "he claims more hours". "Next year I'm going on an internship, we wrote a cover letter, a CV".In catering, in mechanics… A horizon is drawn by touches.

"When you don't know how to read or write at 12, you avoid, you get sick, in short… frictions, caricatures arrive. Hence the need to work on reception, with an idea of ​​reciprocity, underlines Olivier Bédu, the principal of the college. The dream of the fearful& ;nbsp;Maykina, "it’s the aesthetic". She has understood that she is not You wouldn't get there without checking a few boxes. "By promoting their well-being, we reduce absenteeism.

The hope of a second position at the start of the 2024 school year

"Working here, for me, is a treat,” smiles their teacher. "And vice versa ! Today they are chasing me in the yard to get more hours, but I can't. They appreciate that I give them a job that's “not too difficult, but not that easy either!” "They feel themselves progressing, which prevents them from dropping out, they are very aware of this and grateful."

Links are created, a second position is hoped for. "For me it’s about helping them become responsible adults. Sof the 42 registered, 20 started reading in a few months."  "Reading, a menu at a restaurant or the’schedule, it changes your life !", continues Dawson.

"This year, it was the mothers who accompanied the children, last year, it was the fathers who went around the exits, checked that there were no intruders could enter the establishment, proof that trust has been established. And for the principal, this seems very promising.

Frédéric Miquel, academy inspector: “There are no gypsy students!”

What is the purpose of this educational mission ?

The goal is for all children to feel good at school, including gypsy children who are not 'gypsy-students', in the profile particular pedagogical, made of a pearly presence, of absenteeism… hellip; The ultimate goal is that one day this mission will disappear!

And the objectives ?

Build a more fraternal school, extend academic ambition up to 16 years old, and training up to 18 years old, consolidate the educational alliance with families, among others!

Are the meeting, the exchanges worth a thousand seminars ?

On March 20, an unprecedented day brought together all of the academy's partners working on the subject: leaders of gypsy associations, members of the ;rsquo;National education, university, institutions and communities. This meeting comes from work with families and partners. This is the first time at the academic level. It was not a day of seminars, but of exchanges on reconciliation, the place of language, inclusive measures such as the UPR. And to bring balm to the heart, with families, around common objectives.

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