While meeting his readers in Marseille, the former head of state was questioned by a teacher on Friday November 22. On November 8, the former president notably considered that teachers only work “six months a year”, triggering a controversy.
The pill does not work for teachers. So much so that this Friday, November 22, one of them went to a bookstore in Marseille to insult Nicolas Sarkozy, then in the middle of a book signing session. A few days earlier, Saturday November 8, the former President of the Republic had declared that “the status of school teacher, […] It’s 24 hours a week.” et “6 months of the year”triggering a lively controversy.
In a video widely relayed on social networks, notably by our colleagues at BFMTV, we can see said teacher approaching the former head of state. “Are you not ashamed of throwing the teaching world out into the open to public opinion?”first questions the professor, standing in front of Nicolas Sarkozy. Before continuing: “Why are you lying? You know that we don't work 24 hours a week. We work 43 hours. It's the Depp [Direction de l’évaluation, de la prospective et de la performance auprès du ministère de l’Éducation nationale, NDLR] who writes it.
“Hey guy, bye”
Quickly, Nicolas Sarkozy responds. “If you want to talk to me about it, you come and talk to me about it”he says. But the teacher does not intend to stop there, and retorts: “You retired at 57, I’m going to retire at 67. We work every morning, we are at work at 7:30 a.m….” Annoyed, Nicolas Sarkozy then cuts him off. “Hey guy, bye.” Before the teacher answers him, one last time: “How do you address yourself? [sic] to the world of work in this way?.
Nicolas Sarkozy's remarks at the beginning of the month during a conference in Saint-Raphaël shocked a branch of the political class and professors. Voices on the left and in MoDem, as well as teachers' unions, then denounced the “contempt” of the former head of state for school teachers. The Minister of National Education Anne Genetet also spoke, and estimated that teachers “work a lot in difficult conditions” and called for them “sustain”.
