Emmanuel Macron surprised everyone. In the opinion of the teachers’ unions and parents’ associations that La Dépêche contacted, no consultation had been launched. The idea has already been raised during meetings at the Ministry of National Education, without ever going any further. About fifty “laboratory” schools in Marseille will thus experiment with the freedom of choice of teachers by directors from the start of the 2022 school year.
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What is the current operation?
Currently, a principal does not choose the teachers for her school. He has no hierarchical power over his team, he must lead the educational team. He is a teacher in charge of the direction.
An elementary school teacher essentially bases his job application on geographic criteria. He requests his transfer within the framework of an interdepartmental or intradepartmental movement and chooses the positions that interest him. For his assignment, the criteria used are seniority, the social and medical situation of the teacher.
A school principal receives a monthly bonus of between €150 and €300 per month.
What did Emmanuel Macron offer?
The President of the Republic detailed his “Marseille in a big way” plan on Thursday afternoon. His idea: that school principals can choose their teaching team. “We need to have school principals who are allowed to have a little more supervision”.
He proposes that teachers choose to go to work in sensitive neighborhoods “and the educational projects that go with it”. “People are tired of working too long in difficult neighborhoods,” notes the head of state.
He wants “a laboratory of ideas and means”: an educational project adapted to the pupils, additional means when there are many allophone pupils, an adapted school rhythm, different sporting and cultural times with the support of “extracurricular actors” . About fifty Marseille schools will be concerned from the start of the 2022 school year.
What do teachers’ unions think?
The Snuipp-FSU, the main union of primary school teachers, opposes this Marseille experiment. Ghislaine David, the spokesperson, denounces “a very worrying proposal which goes against the rules of the Public Service with currently equal treatment throughout the territory”.
Basically, Emmanuel Macron’s announcement “will not change anything”, believes Ghislaine David. ” What motivates teachers is when we can work properly, when the premises are well disposed, when there are sufficient replacement staff, when there is continuing education, when there are school psychologists, a whole team that allows us to move forward with the children.”