Solange is categorical: “Ultimately, I would have turned into an embittered teacher and it was the students who would have suffered.” A former teacher, she decided to leave the profession in September 2019 after twenty years of career in National Education. She’s not the only one. Over the 2020-2021 school year, 2,300 teachers resigned, according to ministry figures revealed in early July. They were only 804 four years earlier. This increase in the number of resignations raises concerns, a few days before the start of the school year on September 1. Especially since some 4,000 positions have not been filled following the competitions organized in 2022, out of a total of 27,332 open in the public and private sectors. Lack of recognition, feeling of powerlessness, red tape… Teachers tell us the reasons that led them to throw in the towel. “One morning, I failed.” Marie* remembers very well this Tuesday in November 2019: “I had lunch with a colleague and she told me that she did not recognize me.” That day, helpless in the face of an overcrowded class, this former school teacher of almost twenty years of career is overtaken by the fatigue that she has accumulated for years: “As soon as the students left for recess, I cried. ” An appointment with his doctor the next day is enough for him to decide to stop it. The sending of a letter of resignation will follow a few weeks later. For Marie, this burnout and the sick leave that followed are the result of several years of overwork. With nearly 30 students in the same class that year, “I found myself with four different levels. From an educational point of view, I always had to do more”, recalls the 43-year-old former teacher. The observation is the same for Cindy, who taught high school mathematics for ten years at the Nancy-Metz academy. One year, she must supervise a class of terminal S of 39 students. For her, who has to look for additional tables every hour of class, it’s mission impossible. “I didn’t even have two minutes to give each student. As a result, my lesson was like an hour of college in an auditorium.” Cindy, former mathematics teacher at franceinfo For his part, Erwan, former contractual history-geography teacher (employed by the rectorate) in the Rennes academy, found himself tossed about by an assignment system which brought him to change level, or even institution, almost every year. “I happened to go from sixth to final year, from one year to another. In these moments, we have to train at the last moment and learn new programs”, explains the former teacher of 37 years. Same observation for Cathy, a former English teacher who did replacements for ten years, in Ain then in the Lyon metropolitan area: “In the end, we realize that we are just a pawn in the face of budgetary requirements, that we will move as needed.” For many teachers, the administrative tasks, “more and more numerous”, also come to lengthen the working days. The constitution of files and the organization of meetings within the framework of outings or specific projects are very time-consuming. Similarly, they deplore a lack of means which prevents them from properly supporting students with disabilities within the framework of the inclusive school that the government wants to put in place. “I said to myself that things weren’t going well when I thought to myself: can’t wait for the holidays, I’ll be able to work.” Anne, former professor of classics at franceinfo The pressure generated by these responsibilities ends up becoming difficult to bear, describes Solange. “We always have this anxiety that one day it doesn’t go well. It ended up eating me.” A fatigue reinforced by the contempt expressed by the rest of society. “It’s okay, you have 18 hours of lessons a week, what are you complaining about?”, “Anyway, you have plenty of holidays”… These remarks, Solange heard them almost systematically when she was a teacher. She even mentions the “little raised eyebrow” and the “smirk” on the faces of her interlocutors each time she talks about her job. For her, and for many teachers, stereotypes about the profession are exhausting on a daily basis. “You have to systematically justify yourself, prove that yes, in fact, you really work,” she says. All of the teachers interviewed also point to a “broken bond of trust” with the hierarchy, deemed “not present enough” for its staff. “We have zero recognition,” said Marie, reassembled. In everyday life, this is measured by the tone used by school management and the contacts at the rectorate when a teacher wants to report an absence or ask for a break. “They make us feel guilty by telling us how complicated it will be to find a replacement for us,” says Marie. In the long term, the example of inspection visits is also telling. “The last interview I had was in 2018 and since then I was supposed to have had none at all before retirement,” explains the former teacher. However, many of them emphasize the importance of feedback on their work. “Nobody ever tells us: ‘What you are doing is good’. In the long run, it becomes exhausting and you no longer want to progress.” Agnès, former professor of physical sciences at franceinfo There is also the question of the salary, considered too low and “not at all rewarding” by most of the teachers whom franceinfo questioned. For Anne, who taught in the academy of Toulouse, the financial reason weighed heavily in the balance. “I had a hard time finishing the month and on top of that, I didn’t see any career development prospects. I was fed up,” she explains. With a bac +5 level of studies, she says she started at 1,500 euros net per month as a holder. After ten years of career, she had barely reached 1,800 euros. On this subject, the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, announced in an interview with Le Parisien (paid article), on June 26, that all new teachers would receive at least 2,000 euros net from 2023. value of the public service index point has also been increased by 3.5% from July 1, 2022″, replied the ministry at the end of July, contacted by franceinfo. Sometimes, it is hardly entered in the trade that the teachers, freshly graduated, are resigned to leave it. “Once the competition has passed, we are given a class without preparation or advice”, testifies Julie, who only worked for a few months as a school teacher in the Orléans-Tours academy. When he was assigned to his first class near Caen in 2019, Jordan* very quickly felt lost in the face of the group of students he had to manage overnight. “Inevitably, at the beginning, I had trouble establishing my authority,” he laments in a small voice. As a trainee teacher (first year before tenure), he is in charge of a CE1-CE2 class on Mondays and Tuesdays. “The reality on the ground is very different from what we learn at school. I would have waited for tips, concrete advice on how to teach in class, but nothing came.” Jordan *, former school teacher at franceinfo During this year of internship, a tutor teacher is supposed to accompany him, but in fact, he lacks advice. Jordan goes through bad experiences for months, until he decides to resign during the summer, after a month off. The young 27-year-old teacher will unfortunately never be established. “By dint of not knowing who to contact, I told myself that it was never going to work”, he concludes, looking sorry. Often teachers only realize the extent of their suffering when it affects their health. For Agnès, it is “inexplicable back problems”, “recurrent migraines” and hospitalization in 2019 that give the alert. Contacted by franceinfo, the rectorate of Lille indicates that when such situations of ill-being are reported to it, “teachers are invited to contact a human resources adviser or preventive medicine”. In fact, the solutions offered remain limited, argues Agnès. “We have the impression of hitting a wall,” says Céline, a former teacher. Faced with this wall, some then decide to give up their aprons. “It was either to leave or to stay in the boat and sink with it. I saved my skin”, summarizes Marie with an air of resignation. Today, they are beekeepers, inspectors, actors or even apprentice booksellers. “Thrilled” and “much less tired”, almost all admit to rethinking their teaching profession and their students. “When I meet them, they still call me mistress”, rejoices Solange, today manager of lodgings in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The “pleasure of teaching” never left her. With hindsight, they all come to the same conclusion: they didn’t leave because of the job, but because of a dysfunctional system, a “big machine” that wore them down. * The first name has been changed at the request of the person concerned.