In his back-to-school circular, Pap Ndiaye presented the main lines of his educational project for the start of the school year. The Minister of National Education wants to give priority to nursery school in particular.
Called “a school committed to excellence, equality and well-being”, the back-to-school flyer was published by the Ministry of National Education and Youth at the end of August. Addressed each year to education authorities and National Education staff (rectors, vice-rectors, inspectors, academic directors of national education services, heads of establishments, school directors, teachers, etc.), it specifies that the mastery of fundamental knowledge (reading, writing and mathematics) remains the main objective of this new school year and emphasizes the nursery school which must benefit “a new pedagogical, material and human investment“.”Kindergarten is essential for successful entry into learning for all children and to prevent the risk of dropping out in adolescence.“, specifies the circular which insists on the positive results obtained thanks to the duplication of classes carried out since 2017 in nursery (and elementary) schools in the priority education network and the capping of classes at 24 students.
Already last June, the Minister of National Education addressed his agents, the 900,000 or so teachers, via a letter explaining what he intended to develop during his term of office. In five points, he mentioned the content of the programs, the form of the lessons, as well as the ambitions that the republican school must again guarantee. “I am happy to write to you directly, with the responsibility of a ministry that has structured not only my career but shaped my life. I do so as the university professor that I am, the son of a secondary school teacher” he declared then, with the aim of making this enterprise a common work.
What are the 5 main axes of Pap Ndiaye for the start of the school year?
1 – Fight against social inequalities
First axis and not the least for Pap Ndiaye, very attached to the primary mission of the Republican and meritocratic school: allow all French schoolchildren to climb the ladder and raise their social status. “It is my responsibility to take charge of the drama of injustice that our school system feeds by not allowing the poorest enough to hope to transform their social condition.he argues in an interview with Huffington Post. This broken promise casts a shadow over our actions” he thus explained, wanting moreover to make of the school a kind of refuge, where the only identity, the only status which counts, is that of student. He thus speaks of the school as of “a shelter against prejudice of all kinds“, allowing “to break down the downturns that are comforting in appearance, devastating in reality… Collectively, we can ensure that young minds are not drawn to resentment and pessimism”. This, while 75% French people say they are worried about the increase in the number of religious outfits at school.
2 – Prioritize fundamental knowledge and lessons
Like his predecessor Jean-Michel Blanquer, Pap Ndiaye insists on fundamental knowledge, with priority “French and Mathematics in the teaching provided to our students until the end of the sixth“. He thus continues the French and mathematical plans, and also announces for next year the launch of a “maternal plan”, he also turned to an initial mastery of these two subjects.
3 – Ensure the well-being of students
Fight against discrimination and valuing people with disabilities, this is the inclusive school according to Pap Ndiaye. On the first point, the Minister wants to be precise and determined: “This spirit of vigilance, of listening, must also concern acts and words of discrimination, racist or anti-Semitic hatred, sexist or sexual violence. The well-being of pupils requires that the school be a place without prejudice, without words and without acts of intimidation, a secular place as well”. As for the second point, the Minister wants to be “very attentive to handicapped situations
“, and wishes improve “thee status of our staff“
, AESH (accompanying students with disabilities), whose working time is too often suffered
.
4 – Commit to the environment
The Minister wants to include his global action in the fight for the preservation of the environmentbelieving that each political action, whatever its ministerial function, must “engage, in all dimensions, a strong mobilization on the subject
“. In fact, it counts review school infrastructure and adapt it to environmental standardsas well as strengthening the theoretical awareness of students: “This also means strengthening teaching on the subject in school curricula.
, writes the minister.
5 – Revalorize the teaching profession
While the profession is facing an unprecedented vocation crisis, and the start of the new school year will be with vacancies due to a shortage of teachers, Pap Ndiaye intends to restore the image of the profession. “This symbolic recognition is essential. It involves devoting a particular and significant effort to raising salaries if we want to create a shock of attractiveness, attract and retain our young colleagues”
What is the great consultation?
From September 2022, the major consultation will begin, as part of the major school reform desired by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron and quickly pursued by his new Minister of Education Pap Ndiaye. The latter thus explained how he would proceed, by first of all starting discussions open to all the actors who evolve within or around the school. “It will really be a debate, decentralized exchanges, in all schools” where the “teachers, parents of students, administrative and management staff and other actors in local life” will be invited to speak.
What concrete changes for the start of the school year?
A more inclusive school
Concretely next September, Pap Ndiaye announced the creation of “4,000 additional full-time equivalents of carers for children with disabilities”
Fewer children in class and duplication
Priority given to the elementary course with “an improvement in the student supervision rate“. In practice, this means a lower average number of pupils per class, while it has already fallen from 23 to 21.8 children between 2017 and 2021. Among the youngest, in kindergarten, the duplication of large section classes will be continued in the priority and reinforced priority education networks, known as REP and REP+.
30 minutes of sport per day at school
It was the president himself who announced that elementary school students will now have thirty minutes of sport a day,
in addition to PE hours. “It’s a real revolution, to both learn better (…) and have a real health prevention policy to fight against obesity and the sedentary lifestyle of many of our children and teenagers.“said Emmanuel Macron.
Return of maths in the common core at the start of the school year
In secondary education, confirmation was also made at the beginning of the month of the return of “optional” mathematics in the common core in Première from September 2022. This new scientific and mathematical teaching will be increased to 3 hours 30 per week (compared to 2 hours currently). It will be assessed as part of continuous assessment, without modifying the coefficient currently attributed to scientific education (coefficient 3 for the year of 1ère).
Boosting the attractiveness of the teaching profession
A key point in the reform and the main player in the school, the teaching staff is at the heart of the concerns of the Minister of Education. Accusing a significant drop in its workforce, Pap Ndiaye has the challenge of reviving the attractiveness of teaching professions while an unprecedented shortage of teachers is undermining the next school year.. The Job dating launched with Pôle Emploi had also caused a scandal, and to accommodate the 12.2 million students in September, the minister called on “contract teachers, whose share remains very modest with 1% in the first degree and 8% in the second degree,” he said. In the longer term and in a structural logic, the Minister agrees to review better remuneration and working conditions for professors and teachers.
What is the school of the future?
These schools of the future, experimented in Marseille, bring greater autonomy to primary schools, in particular by allowing headteachers to recruit their own teachers. Traveling to Marseille on Thursday June 2, 2022, Emmanuel Macron reassures: “we are never going to get the heads of establishment to make their own transfer window”. What to answer, on the other hand, teacher shortage which worries the academies. But concretely, according to Virginie Akliouat, spokesperson for Snuipp-FSU, a union of school teachers, “the test has not really started in the 59 schools“. she specifies to the Parisian.