After several months without a mathematics teacher for their children, parents of students at the Saint-Pierre-de-Lages college (Haute-Garonne) launched an online petition on November 5 to demand the hiring of a new teacher. Victory, almost two weeks later: the principal of the establishment announced to them the recruitment of a contract teacher.
Faced with the shortage of teachers, but also the inaction of certain academies concerned, parents of students sometimes have to fend for themselves. And, all things considered, such an endeavor can sometimes end in victory. This was the case in a college in Saint-Pierre-de-Lages (Haute-Garonne), where around sixty 5th and 4th grade students had not had a mathematics teacher since the start of the school year in September.
The fault lies in a lack of sufficient resources to replace a full-time therapeutic part-time professor. “Initially, we replaced these additional hours – 7.5 hours per week – internally with teachers”affirms the principal of the establishment at the Dispatch from the South. But the teachers concerned quickly made it known that this tinkering could not last beyond the All Saints holidays.
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A petition to hire a teacher
In fact, “the parents of the students were worried to know that there would be no mathematics lessons at the start of the school year”continues the principal. It is from this observation that the mobilization of parents was born who decided to launch, on November 5, an online petition entitled “Educational emergency: an essential maths teacher for the Roussillous college”.
The text pointed out a situation which persisted “despite the principal's active representations to the competent authorities, which unfortunately have not yet followed up”. “The Parents’ Association (APE) also approached the academy without success”continue the authors of the petition, who assure that this absence of teachers “endangers the educational future of our children”. In less than two weeks, the text collected nearly a thousand signatures.
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And, on November 18, parents were able to declare victory when the principal of the establishment announced to them that a contract teacher had been hired. “She will provide lessons for a 5th grade group as well as those for a 4th grade class”welcomes the Parents' Association, in a press release. This recruitment will be renewed every three months, subject to the maintenance of the therapeutic part-time of the tenured professor, according to information from The Dispatch.
