Two weeks after the start of the school year, several schools are still short of teachers. As a result, some classes have still not been able to start their program due to a lack of teachers. A situation that is “not catastrophic”, but which crystallizes the shortcomings behind this profession in crisis.
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“We recruited a lot before the start of the school year, to be sure to have a teacher in front of each class.“On the first day of school, the words of the rector of the Lille academy, Valérie Cabuil, aligned with those of Nicole Belloubet, the resigning Minister of National Education, did not escape the notice of heads of establishments and teachers’ unions.”We held back our laughter“, recalls Cédric Bart, academic secretary of SE-UNSA in Lille, skeptical and disheartened by the promises of National Education.
Because two weeks after the start of the school year, some classes in Nord-Pas-de-Calais have still not found a teacher to spend the year 2024. According to a survey by the SNES-FSU, on September 5, there was a shortage at least one teacher in 56% of secondary schools, or in one in three institutions. A headache for school principals who sometimes have to scramble to fill gaps in timetables.
A situation that is only moderately surprising in middle and high schools.We suspected it. We have been warning about this complicated return to school since last summer.“, recalls Cédric Bart. And the unionist adds: “France still needs 3,000 teachers to reach minimum numbers“, or even 8,000 to reach the numbers of seven years ago.
Added to this are teachers shared between two geographically distant establishments, CAPES trainees who throw in the towel, therapeutic part-times assigned at the start of the school year… Last-minute factors and hazards that further reduce the number of students under pressure. Result: some students have not yet been able to start their physics-chemistry, Dutch, German or mathematics program, due to the lack of a teacher to teach the course.
But this return was “far from being apocalyptic” according to Florence Delannoy, assistant academic secretary of the SNPDEN (National Union of Education Management Staff). The principal acknowledges that the situation is not optimal, but that it could be worse: “There are still gaps here and there, but this varies greatly depending on the type of establishment, its position in the academy and the type of teaching.“
There are still gaps here and there, but this varies greatly depending on the type of establishment, its position in the academy and the type of teaching.
Florence Delannoy, assistant academic secretary of SNPDEN
A city-centre high school accessible by public transport will find replacement teachers more easily than a rural high school or a vocational high school, which generally have more specific disciplines.
For Florence Delannoy, the situation is difficult, but not dramatic.We haven’t had any feedback with really catastrophic situations. It’s maybe harder for French or mathematics, but there was a lot of anticipation in July.“According to her, the biggest problem remains the lack of reserve staff, replacement teachers, who are constantly called upon to fill permanent positions.”We are managing to ensure the return to school more or less correctly but without a “reservoir” of replacements. Which will become problematic for the coming year..”
