Oudéa-Castera controversy: “2.6%, teachers have the lowest rate of absenteeism”, assures LFI deputy Sébastien Rome
|Le député de l'Hérault, Sébastien Rome, estime que l'Education nationale “manque de moyens”. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO
The Insoumis deputy from Hérault, teacher and school director on availability during his mandate, reacts to the controversy which followed the remarks of the Minister of National Education on his choice to enroll your children in the private sector "given the packages of hours not seriously replaced".
Did the Minister of National Education score an own goal as soon as she entered the field ?
She even made several attacks, first against teachers, then against public schools and even against the macronie, in power for seven years, whom she blames for the problem of replacements. That’s a lot for a first release and in very few words. Her first political act will also remain a lie, since we subsequently learned that it was not absenteeism but a disagreement with the teaching team, which pushed her to enroll your child in the private sector. How can a minister, who is in charge of education, in her practice call into question the authority of teachers ? She has already lost all credit.
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra nevertheless raises in the debate the reality of unguaranteed lesson times…
There are several realities. Starting with the figures: the teacher absenteeism rate is 2.6%, compared to an average of 3.9% in the professional environment. This is 4.6% in the hospital sector and 5.1% in the territorial function. When a nurse is missing, it only impacts the other professionals in their department, whereas the absence of a teacher affects many families. The apprehension is therefore different.
Reduced to hours, the absenteeism figures appear enormous…
In 2018, the Court of Auditors recorded 2.5 million hours of lessons missed by secondary school teachers due to a short absence, of which only 20% were replaced. And the situation got worse. But let’s make no mistake, the responsibility does not lie with the teachers. The problem is above all the lack of attractiveness of the profession and the macronie has only made the problem worse, since, at the last school year, 4,000 positions remained unfilled, despite the promise to put a teacher in front of each student. There is also a lack of resources to better support students: AESH, school doctors, educational assistants, etc. I have been asked on different occasions, notably for a child who sometimes cannot control his outbursts of anger. The situation is difficult, to the point that the teacher is on sick leave again and is considering resigning due to lack of support. Many parents have decided to enroll their child in the private sector to change schools. Due to a lack of students, it is today the school that is threatened, whereas adequate support, protecting the child and their health, would have avoided the suffering of the student and the teacher and these departures.
Hadn't Gabriel Attal's, admittedly ephemeral, passage to National Education given hope to the teaching profession?
I don't think so. He played a classic: public opinion against teachers. But worrying about clothes, abaya or uniform, has never helped students progress. The money promised for the uniforms, 250 € per child – when on average a municipality puts 50 € per student –, would be more useful for educational projects. As for the projects he launched, for example the level groups or the Brevet reform which would once again become a competitive entrance exam to high school, it would be a return to the school of the thirties .
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