SCHOOL – First school strike of the year, this Tuesday, September 10. Several teachers’ unions have called for a walkout in nursery and elementary schools, one week after the start of the school year. The cause of the anger: the generalization of national assessments, in French and mathematics, in classes ranging from CP to CM2.
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These tests, which take place from September 10 to September 20 or 28, depending on the level, are generalized this back to school to all classes, from CP to second (mandatory in elementary, 6th, 4th, and optional in 5th and 3rd due to lack of resources to impose them). This is a new feature in 2024 for CE2 and CM2.
The objectives of this reform, initiated by the former Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, are to enable teachers to quickly identify students’ difficulties at the start of the year, but also to ” have indicators to measure, at the national level, the performance of the education system “, as the ministry indicates on its website.
A “tool for sorting students”
Among teachers’ unions, it is far from unanimous. They fear both the cumbersome nature of their implementation, a threat to the pedagogical freedom of teachers and a « source de stress » for teachers, students and families.
“We don’t need these assessments to know the level of our students”explained Guislaine David, general secretary of FSU-Snuipp, the leading primary school union (nursery and elementary school), during a press conference on August 26.
According to the unions, these assessments would go against the interests of students. In a press release calling for a strike, SUD éducation believes that they are “not not useful to students and do not address academic difficulties” but that on the contrary ” they deny the heterogeneity of students’ learning rhythms and constitute a source of stress and discomfort for students ».
Among the reasons for boycotting the reform, the FSU-Snuipp is concerned that these tests will not ” are used to sort students ». « Tools enabling in particular the establishment of level groups, the evaluations participate in and reinforce the construction of a selective and unequal school “, the union explains in a flyer that lists the reasons for opposing it.
“Taking control” of teachers
Teachers also fear a ” put under control » of their teaching practices. For CGT Education, these evaluations are the « cornerstone of a global system of evaluation of the educational system also aiming to compare the results of each teacher and therefore to put them in competition. This is unacceptable “, concludes the union in a press release calling for a boycott and strike on September 10.
Among non-union teachers, opinions may be more nuanced. Releasesome see these assessments as a ” neutral tool “, allowing to have an overall vision of the level of the students in their class, but also to identify certain difficulties from the start of the year or to adapt the programs.
With this day of strike, the unions also wish to denounce more broadly the working conditions in schools, in particular the excessively high number of pupils in classes or the shortage of teachers. They also demand the repeal of the “knowledge shock” measures as a whole.
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