Health pass at school: “We are not closing any hypothesis” but “it is not my inclination”, says Jean-Miche – franceinfo

“It is not my inclination to go for a health pass at school”, said Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, on France Culture on Saturday September 4th.

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Will a health pass be required for teachers and students from 12 years old? “We never close any hypothesis”, first replies the Minister of Education, “this has been the case since the start of the health crisis”. Things “vary because we try to be as adapted as possible to the realities that we encounter, so in the future we can have that”. But the establishment of a compulsory health pass, “that is not at all my natural tendency”, insists Jean-Michel Blanquer. He believes that the school “must be open to all, respectful of the convictions of all”, so “school cannot be exclusionary”. On the other hand, the minister “strongly encourages the vaccine”, he “assume to do it”.

Asked about a risk of resumption of the epidemic after this new school year, Jean-Michel Blanquer ensures that “nobody can answer this question”. In reference to “international studies and the experience we have accumulated”, he thinks “that we are in a position to control” the epidemic “by the protocol we have”, and by vaccination. He assures that “The very latest studies that have just come out believe that the Delta variant does not cause more serious cases in children”, contrary to fears that had been formulated

The proportion of classes closed due to cases of Covid among students “is tiny”, has also assured the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer. “We only have a very small number of cases”, he said, without being able to give an exact number, a few days after the start of the school year. He points out that in Reunion where the students have resumed lessons “two weeks before the metropolis and where the health situation is comparable, we are currently a little below this figure of 0.2%”. The Minister “think that in the short term we must be in this order of magnitude”. Jean-Michel Blanquer ensures to look at the situation “with a lot of vigilance obviously”.