Protocols galore
During the demonstration, the teachers also shouted their fed up with the succession of health protocols and the difficulty of adapting. “I understand the difficulty of having to adapt constantly, we ourselves have to adapt constantly. Delta which was more serious and less contagious, Omicron which was very virulent and which swept away everything in its path in the schools…“, recognizes the minister.
So, shouldn’t the latest quarantine measures be changed? “It is not me who is at the helm for health protocols. These are discussions that take place between health ministers and sometimes we are involved in that. But obviously we cannot bring back sick teachers.“
Reforms
The minister is not giving up on future reforms either. “These reforms, we must make them“, she insists. According to her, many teachers and school principals are also very aware of this need. The message is clear: no postponement on the horizon.
“You know that we have already postponed a whole series of reforms for a year, even two years. However, next year we have to start with our new common core for the first and second primary“, she adds.
In addition, the Pact for teaching excellence has given rise to a new fear within the world of teaching: a future evaluation of teachers. “This evaluation project is not imagined as a sanction“, reassures the minister. And that too, there is no question of giving it up.
The delay in learning
Some teachers also explained their dismay at the students’ learning delay. To this, Caroline Désir explains that she has put a lot of resources into additional staff to try to make up for these delays. “They have been extended for primary school already until Easter. In the case of secondary education, these are resources from the European Recovery Plan which will support all of this.“
You can’t invent teachers
But does this supervising staff have all the required diplomas? “There is no magic formula to fight against the shortage“replied the minister.
“Short-term measures have been taken to make replacements more quickly. But there are also medium and long-term projects to fight the crisis: improving working conditions, upgrading the profession so that students engage in educational courses… We cannot invent teachers“, concludes Caroline Désir.
The codeco
Finally, the minister also commented on Friday’s Consultation Committee. So, is she in favor of ending the wearing of masks in schools? “When we are going to be able to go back to the disco without a mask, it seems logical to me that six-year-old children are no longer masked”replied the Minister.