Covid-19: one week before the start of the school year, teachers’ concerns persist

Published on : 08/27/2021 – 07:04

“We can be completely serene about this new school year. Of course, we will encounter difficulties, of course, there will be problems, but we put ourselves in a position to manage them,” said at a press conference , Thursday August 26, the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer.

While 12.4 million students must find their way back to schools, colleges and high schools, Thursday, September 2 in France, the Minister of National Education estimated that the current circulation of the coronavirus, and in particular of the Delta variant, does not did not justify more measures than those provided for in scenario 2 (out of four) of the health protocol put in place by the ministry.

According to this scenario, all students can be received face-to-face in schools. A case of Covid-19 in a class in the primary sector will cause the class to be closed, while in middle school from the fifth – the sixth grade students are not vaccinated – and in high school, only unvaccinated contact cases students will have to isolate themselves for a week in the event of contamination in a class.

“I remain worried because the minister did not mention a change in protocol as we requested and is still in the dark on several points”, judge Guislaine David, the general secretary of Snuipp-FSU, the first primary union, contacted by France 24.

Difficulties in purchasing CO sensors₂

Alongside other teachers and doctors, including epidemiologists Dominique Costagliola and William Dab, the trade unionist co-signed a column, published on August 19 in The world, calling on the government to protect the health of students in the face of a Delta variant that is much more contagious and circulating strongly in children and adolescents. At the end of August, 57% of 12-17 year olds received a first injection of anti-Covid vaccine and 34% are fully vaccinated. Those under 12 are not eligible for vaccination and are therefore more at risk of contamination.

“It seems to us today unthinkable, for the majority of the French departments, to envisage a resumption at ‘level 2’ of the health protocol, while the incidence rate among 0-19 year olds is five times higher than that of the start of the 2020 school year, “they wrote at the time.

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Guislaine David criticizes in particular Jean-Michel Blanquer for not advancing frankly on the need to install CO sensors₂ to measure the need for aeration of classrooms. The minister promoted them on Thursday morning, but leaves the responsibility for their purchase to local authorities. However, many municipalities do not have the means to invest in this type of equipment. “There are clearly the municipalities which can and those which cannot”, estimates Jean-Michel Morer, of the Association of small towns of France, quoted by Franceinfo.

“We will no doubt have in a few weeks a beautiful document from the ministry to show local communities that CO sensors₂ are important, but the minister remained evasive on financial aid “, regrets the Secretary General of Snuipp-FSU.

The tests are also singled out. Jean-Michel Blanquer has promised 600,000 weekly tests for first degree students. “Not enough”, according to Guislaine David, who stresses that random tests will not allow real epidemic monitoring to be set up.

“In Austria all pupils are tested twice a week”

“We must test all the students because we know that the Delta variant is much more contaminating. This is what the doctors of the Scientific Council recommend and is what some European countries do, she continues. In Austria, all the students were tested twice a week last spring and positive cases were not admitted to their facility. ” All Austrian pupils will be tested again on the first day of the school year and will then be tested three times a week during the first three weeks of the course, whether or not they have been vaccinated. The measures will then be adapted according to the incidence rate of each region.

Last fundamental point for Guislaine David: the question of wearing a mask outdoors. It is not required in level 2 of the health protocol, but Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday morning on RTL that it would be kept “inside and in playgrounds”.

“Here again, Jean-Michel Blanquer remained unclear. However, when the students spend their time playing very closely together, especially the youngest, we know that there is a promiscuity which will allow contamination”, insists the general secretary of Snuipp-FSU.

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However, the minister hopes for a return to school “as normal as possible” and wanted to be confident, taking Reunion and Mayotte as an example, where the return to school took place on August 16 and 24 respectively, without any outbreak of contamination so far. However, he warned that there would “inevitably be new measures in the coming times depending on the situation”.

These changes may be local. In the West Indies and in the red zones of Guyana, for example, the start of the school year was postponed from September 2 to 13 because of the “serious” health situation there.