The teachers had been waiting for a reaction from their responsible minister for four days. Since the former President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy made a violent charge against teachers' working hours, Friday November 8, during a conference organized in Saint-Raphaël (Var). “The status of school teacher, (…) It’s twenty-four hours a week.” et “six months of the year”, launched the former head of state, believing that “we cannot afford to have a million teachers”. Before adding ironically, to the laughter of the audience: “So, I know, you have to prepare for the lessons… Kindergarten, major section…”
These statements immediately caused an outcry among the teaching community, and strong condemnations from the left and the center regarding the ” contempt “ of the former president and his “abysmal ignorance” work in kindergarten. The Minister of National Education finally took a position on Tuesday, November 12.
Questioned on the subject by Agence France-Presse, Anne Genetet refused to “to judge” these remarks, but she affirmed her ” support “ to teachers, who “work a lot” et “in difficult conditions”. “I don’t agree. I don't understand his words.”she then declared on the sidelines of a trip to L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne). “I saw that they [les enseignants] do not spare their schedules, far from it, their hourly volume is very important, we must stop restricting ourselves to time in front of the student”insisted the minister, wishing “set the record straight”.
Painful flashback
Support expected but considered late by the representatives of the 850,000 teachers, as revolted by the denigrating remarks of November 8 as by the silence of members of the government or their parliamentary supporters. “When the police are targeted, the Minister of the Interior immediately positions himself to defend them; there, teachers are being attacked by a former head of state and our minister says nothing before being questioned”deplores Guislaine David, of SNUipp-FSU, the first primary school union.
Also read the decryption (2023): Article reserved for our subscribers Teachers' working time: far from preconceived ideas, one of the heaviest workloads in Europe
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At a time when successive governments continue to proclaim the necessary “revaluation of the teaching profession”Nicolas Sarkozy's speech had the effect of a painful flashback. The assertion that their working time would be summed up by their compulsory presence time in front of the students is an old refrain from the former president, who already used the same terms in 2007, in 2012, and even in 2016.
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