“Everything is going very well, Madame la Marquise”, this is what the ministry is humming for the 2008/2009 school year. However, on the union side, the song is not the same: “There is an urgency in the situation,” says Jean-Pierre Quartier, the CGT Education secretary in Nice. Elisabeth Caron, also a delegate for Educ’action, adds: “We are at a point where the structure is about to collapse, but we are determined to take strong actions to improve the situation.” Action, reaction: the Rothschild school will be occupied by teachers and unionists starting tomorrow.
The unions are concerned about the new school system. The job cuts lead to overcrowded classes, the new programs emphasize French and mathematics at the expense of history-geography or sports, the additional two hours of remedial classes further burden the students’ already heavy schedule… The examples are numerous. At the Rothschild – Dubouchage kindergarten, there are about thirty students per class and the waiting list is still very long. In Cannet, at Les Mirandoles school, the school year has indeed started for the students, but the principal is not yet in his position…
High schools are not spared
For the older students, “the new programs, the elimination of the BEP were done without any consultation with the unions,” denounces Bernard Massabieaux, a delegate at CFDT. In hospitality, sales, and floral art, there are not enough places. 1,400 young people find themselves without training in the vocational high schools of the Alpes-Maritimes. The last vocational high school built dates back to 1989. “We need to show young people that the vocational baccalaureate is the future and therefore we must provide the means,” explains a union member. In any case, the school system does indeed have a problem that the unions intend to try and resolve.
