Already weakened by the controversies concerning the schooling of her children in the private Parisian establishment Stanislas, the Minister of National Education, Youth, Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, faced down on Tuesday February 6 , for a second day of teacher mobilization since his appointment in mid-January.
According to figures provided by the ministry, 3.2% of teachers were on strike on Tuesday, across all levels. In colleges, there were 9.52% of teachers on strike. The SNES-FSU (main union in middle and high schools) has put forward the figure of 40% of teachers on strike in middle schools.
After a day of action which mobilized one in five teachers on February 1, according to figures from the Ministry of National Education, the SNES-FSU, CGT and SUD unions called for a new strike to denounce the application, from next school year, “knowledge shock” reforms intended to raise student standards.
Announced by Gabriel Attal, then Minister of National Education, this system notably provides for the establishment of level groups in French and mathematics in 6th and 5th grade classes. The official texts setting up these level groups at secondary school will be presented on Thursday to a consultative body bringing together national education organizations.
Targeted by opposition MPs
At the same time, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra was the target of three questions from the oppositions, Tuesday afternoon, during questions to the government, a few hours before a possible reshuffle. “Anger is brewing, (…) today, like last Thursday, tens of thousands of teachers are chanting: Amélie Oudéa-Castéra resign! Amélie Oudéa-Castéra resignation! », notably launched the socialist deputy for Calvados, Arthur Delaporte, who defended “public school, free, secular and compulsory” against “paying school, reserved for a caste and the nicest neighborhoods”.
“Putting private schools against public schools is truly a war from another age. (…) The school war, it is you who are reviving it,” replied Ms. Oudéa-Castéra, heckled by certain deputies shouting in the Hemicycle “François Bayrou”, expected to replace her as part of the reshuffle after her acquittal on Monday .
A few minutes earlier, the National Rally deputy for Loir-et-Cher Roger Chudeau had questioned Ms. Oudéa-Castéra about the announced closure of classes in rural areas, calling for a “moratorium” and “the organization of a national conference on ‘rural school’. “Rural schools represent 34% of public schools for 18% of students. They therefore have a favorable supervision rate,” replied the Minister of National Education. After these questions to the government, Ms. Oudéa-Castéra was then heard by the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education of the National Assembly, mid-afternoon on Tuesday, to unveil her roadmap.
