SCHOOL COVID PROTOCOL. A new version of the health protocol is at work for the 2022-2023 school year. It is the base level that takes precedence for the moment. Protocol levels, application, wearing a mask, contact-tracing… We explain everything to you on this special page!
[Mis à jour le 1er septembre 2022 à 12h05] A next wave of Covid cannot be ruled out, but the situation is under control for the moment. For the start of the school year on September 1, 2022, it is therefore a “base level” school health protocol (the lowest existing level) which is established throughout France, from kindergarten to high school. If levels 1,2 and 3 exist, this level has been adopted “in view of the health situation, and on the recommendation of the health authorities”, explains the Ministry of Education on its site. Result, a return to school free of restrictions: face-to-face lessons, no wearing of a mask in class, classic sports lessons… Respect for barrier gestures is however recommended. for everyone. The Ministry of Education indicates that teachers who so wish will be able to obtain surgical masks as well as self-tests, via their academies, until the All Saints holidays. If the transition to a higher level of the protocol proves necessary, its implementation should then be done within 10 days.
An 8th wave of Covid-19 could it coincide with the start of the school year? The new Minister of Health, François Braun, warned on August 23 that this was a possibility. The absence of restrictions in the classes therefore questions some scientists: “If the autumn is cold and rainy and therefore we find ourselves more locked up, there will be an increase in cases”, thus confided to BFM-TV Michèle Legeas, professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health. However, she believes that the decision of a base level for the start of the school year is appropriate, “in view of the current traffic and the epidemic severity among children”. For Fabienne El-Khoury, doctor of public health, the protocol is “not in line with the epidemic situation”, she assures, understanding however that it is difficult to put in place binding measures while the virus circulates little and that the majority of people are vaccinated.
The three levels of measurement “activatable depending on the context”, as explained to AFP Marie-Hélène Piquemal, the national vice-president of Snalc, will allow schools to simply follow the evolution of the epidemic, without obey specific and binding rules. A “base” level is added to this, the lowest level of the health protocol. What do these vigilance thresholds actually consist of?
- the plinth level : with regard to the health protocol, the base level is based on the general recommendations issued by the Ministry of Health and Prevention. As for the welcome doctrine, the basic level includes face-to-face lessons in primary school, middle school and high school.
- the level 1 : it is equivalent to moderate vigilance. In this case, the lessons are held face-to-face, which does not prevent the educational teams from being required to find out about the latest recommendations on barrier gestures by encouraging students to respect them, but also by limiting the strict minimum large gatherings (i.e. open houses or fairs, but not gatherings of students from different classes).
- the level 2 : it corresponds to increased vigilance. Despite the classes that will remain face-to-face, the strengthening of barrier gestures will be required to prevent the mixing of students by level. In addition, the practical modalities in physical education and sports (EPS) will be adapted to limit a possible spread of the virus.
- the level 3 : it signals a very unfavorable evolution of the health context. It will trigger a reception doctrine in high school, which can switch to hybrid education. Distance education will then be a possibility left to each city or department. At the national level, a strengthening of restrictive measures, in particular via a limitation of physical and sporting activities, will be expected from teaching managers.
Finally, wearing a mask in schools is also changing. From now on, we will observe “an alignment of the school with the general population. There is no specific rule in the school environment, no more specific policy of tests at school, nor specific contact tracing device in the school environment. “, specifies the Ministry of National Education.
The determination of the level of the protocol meets several criteria, and in particular qualitative (nature of the variant) and quantitative (situation of hospitals) analysis, as explained by Marie-Hélène Piquemal, national vice-president of Snalc (National union of high schools, colleges, schools and higher education). This specifies that the determination of the level of protocol “is based on the Council for Defense and National Security (CDSN), on the proposal of the health authorities and the Ministry of Education”.
The other key measure of this new version is the 10-day deadline provided for the implementation of the transition from one level to another, which should allow educational teams to adapt to different scenarios. This is a big change compared to the previous protocol which remained very vague on the deadlines and the room for maneuver of the teaching teams in situations of epidemic recovery. According to Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the first primary school union: “This will allow the teams to have more time to adapt on the pitch. It will be much more effective than the hasty announcements made this year,” according to comments reported by The cross. However, we do not know the precise criteria that will make it possible to pass from one level to another; everything will depend on the epidemiological indicators.
While the previous health protocol provided for a range of measures relating to the reporting and tracing of contact cases, but also to the wearing of a mask under certain conditions, this time everything seems simpler. Regarding the wearing of a mask, the protocol for the start of the next school year provides for “an alignment of the school with the general population”, as explained by Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU (main secondary education union). Wearing a mask is thus not included in any of the alert levels or vigilance thresholds: it can only be reimposed on the orders of the health authorities at national level. “There are no specific rules in schools, no more specific school testing policies,” she explained. In addition, if students positive for Covid-19 will always be required to isolate themselves (according to the health rules in force), there will be no isolation planned for contact cases, which will not even be required to be tested. Thus, no specific contact tracing in the school environment or saliva test campaigns for this back to school.
“School is no longer a world apart”. The sentence is signed Sophie Vénétitay, the general secretary of the SNES-FSU (the main secondary education union), who spoke on the airwaves in mid-July about the evolution of the health protocol. Referring to “constructive exchanges” with the ministry, she was pleased that “the reality on the ground” had finally “been heard” by the government. For Guislaine David, the spokesperson for the SNUipp-FSU teachers’ union who raised the subject on France Info on July 13, this protocol is also much more concrete, in particular in the sense that it will not “require” an “exceptional administrative burden”. She is delighted to no longer have to live with all the “announcements to be made to parents”, but also the pressure of applying the protocol.
In fact, the ten-day period between the announcement of a protocol and its implementation date is a godsend for schools that had to follow singular and complex rules for almost two years. As such, Vincent Loustau, the federal secretary of the Sgen-CFDT recognized that this new protocol was “more pragmatic and applicable” than those imposed during the first five-year term. He entrusted to echoes the difficulties posed by “contact tracing” and “mixing”. From now on, the teachers have no other rules to follow than those which will be in force for the whole of the population… What to be relieved.