The Minister of National Education defends teachers. Anne Genetet estimated that teachers “work a lot in difficult conditions” and called for “support” them after the comments of Nicolas Sarkozy who, according to him, only work “six months a year”.
“I'm told 'there aren't enough civil servants in National Education', but that's incredible demagoguery. The status of school teacher, (…) is 24 hours a week” and “6 months of the year”, affirmed the former President of the Republic during a conference in Saint-Raphaël in the Var Friday evening.
Strong reactions
“There are hundreds of thousands of competent, dedicated and wonderful teachers. And there are some who choose the job for the wrong reasons,” added the former leader of the UMP (right). The words of the former President of the Republic, who prides himself on having reduced the number of civil servants by 150,000 when he was at the Elysée, provoked a strong reaction from politicians on the left as well as from the center, and from the unions. Questioned Monday evening by AFP, the Minister of National Education Anne Genetet did not wish to “judge” these comments.
“We cannot say that our teachers work little. They work a lot in sometimes very difficult conditions,” noted the minister, referring to “teachers who are motivated, passionate, committed to the success of their students.”
“French school teachers work 30% more in the year than their German counterparts,” she also recalled, believing that “we must support our teachers, our management staff. No support must be lacking “.
