Exceptionally, it is not the cafeteria menu that can be read on the welcome board of the schools, but a completely different message as a sign of welcome. Usually, the parents of the students are entitled to the traditional warning: “due to a strike, the classes of … will not be held, but the children will be welcomed as long as safety regulations are met.”
For many parents, this news is reassuring; many thought they would have to take care of their little ones themselves. All the Plan Bs have been activated—neighbors, uncles, godmothers, grandmothers… but for the first time, the national education system had planned ahead!
The Darcos law thus requires schools to provide a minimum service to allow the reception of all children safely. These are either BAFA-certified animators who are called for reinforcement or often sanitary assistants from the city hall.
An action plan that reassures Isabelle, a young mother relieved to be able to drop off her little girl at school. “I did not know what to do if the school could not welcome her; I had no backup plan, and I could not just not bring her to school.”
The same feeling is expressed by Pierre, a reassured but slightly anxious father at the idea of leaving his daughter with strangers. “I know these people are competent in their work, but it is still strange to leave her in unknown hands. It feels like experiencing a new school term.”
This change does not seem to disturb the children at all. For them, it’s just another day. Little Charlotte as well as young Luca are “very happy to go to school and meet their friends.” Ultimately, parents, children, and teachers have coped well with this eventful day under the guise of minimum service.
