Deputy Mayor for Education and New Technologies, Agnès Rampal has been very active in recent months with a highlight being the restructuring of the school schedule for young schoolchildren in Nice.
Indeed, she has just launched a major consultation with teachers and parents to gather their opinions on the possibility of adopting a four-day week, thus freeing up a Saturday which has seen declining attendance in Nice’s schools.
But far from stopping there, this doctor in medicine has embarked on other projects such as the new NicePlus card and the unique registration dossier, which will allow children in the city of Nice to fill out only one form to access numerous activities offered in the fields of sports, culture, education, and leisure.
It’s a busy schedule for this city councilor who is, by far, one of the most active and innovative members of the current city council.
Nice Première therefore met with Agnès Rampal, who talks about her recent work as well as her projects for giving the right rhythm to the school life in Nice.
Nice Première: Ms. Agnès Rampal, how did the consultation regarding the 4-day school week go?
Agnès Rampal: The survey on school schedules desired by the Senator Mayor of Nice to assess the real demand of parents and teachers for a change of schedule went very well: we sent each teacher, city staff working in schools, and parents a questionnaire offering the 3 possible school schedules: the current rhythm of 4.5 days which includes 25 Saturday mornings worked, and two alternative rhythms: either 4.5 days with Wednesday morning instead of Saturday, or 4 days without Saturday morning, replacing these Saturdays with 12 school days taken during the shorter and longer holidays.
To date, we have received 13,996 responses out of 30,506 letters sent, which corresponds to a participation rate of 45.88%.
NP: Personally, what is your position on this school schedule?
AR: Currently, none of the proposed school schedules is perfectly suited to the biological rhythm of the child.
Moreover, the National Education does not prefer any of the three options as far as learning is concerned, so it seems to me that the best rhythm is the one that best fits the family since they are the ones supporting school journeys.
Our society has evolved, and almost all women work, so they are asking for a calm weekend with the family after a busy week where they have little time to devote to their children. A child will learn better if his family life is balanced. If, in this balance, a new school schedule can bring an improvement, then it should not be hesitated.
NP: What will fundamentally change with the shift to four days?
AR: The shift to 4 days will eliminate the 25 school Saturday mornings, which will be replaced by 12 full school days taken from the holidays. These 12 days will therefore entail additional expenses for the municipality as there will be 12 more lunch days. The choice of days will be made by the Academic Inspection.
NP: Can you tell us about the NicePlus card and the unique registration dossier?
AR: For all municipal activities requiring registration, parents had to fill out a form for each service: sports, education, leisure activities, and for partner associations that host children as part of the free time contract. The price of these activity days is calculated based on the family quotient.
With this unique form, parents will no longer fill out separate forms for all these activities, which will be shared among various services and partner associations.
Then, a nominal card with the child’s photo and a code will be issued, which will immediately show the day rate the family must pay (there are more than 80 different rates): thus, the registration time will be greatly shortened but it is necessary for parents to fill out these forms now for summer activities! The implementation of this card has been co-financed by the family allowance fund, our partner in the free time contract.
NP: School schedule, unique registration dossier… many successes for Agnès Rampal. Do you have other ongoing projects?
AR: This is only the first step because eventually, the same card will serve for all other municipal activities: library, cyberspace, etc., and especially we aim to eventually allow the reservation and payment for activities in a dematerialized form: there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard!
NP: Will you be present at the Junior Journalist Day taking place at the Palais Nikaïa on May 9th, and what do you think of it?
AR: Yes, I will be present at the Junior Journalist Day and I think very highly of it: our young people are too disconnected from civic life: learning to follow the news is essential to becoming a well-informed, therefore responsible citizen: it’s therefore an excellent initiative which I will attend and from which I will learn a lot.
NP: Do you think that creating a web newspaper in Nice’s schools might be feasible and that it could contribute to better communication?
AR: Creating a web newspaper in schools will be a means of communication between schools which can greatly benefit children in getting to know others, their activities, creating real information and emulation but this passes through a project validated by the National Education!
NP: Finally, what are Agnès Rampal’s wishes for the coming months?
AR: My projects for the coming months: to successfully carry out all the projects and achievements started with the Senator Mayor in the fields of education of course, but also new technologies with the portal for elected officials or the replacement of the computer park in schools for example, in the field of higher education with the dissemination of the route book for students in Nice, a welcome for our high school graduates, and in the field of youth where there are multiple topics for reflection and action!
Municipal life is rich in possibilities for action, and it’s exciting!!
