While more than 12 million students are returning to school, the new Minister of National Education is facing a historic crisis of attractiveness for the profession.
New method, new roadmap, new announcements and… new Minister! It was necessary at least that to hope to appease the teaching staff at the time of a return to the less stormy. With, as an appetizer, the many unfilled positions. Before the summer break, at the end of the recruitment competitions, there were 4,000 teachers missing, including 1,700 for primary education alone, out of a total of 880,000. “more difficult than usual”.
So much so that he has just announced the organization in the spring of an “exceptional tenure competition” for contract workers, today numbering 3,000. That will not be enough. “During five years of the Blanquer ministry, nothing has been done to attract new teachers, denounces Guislaine David, spokesperson for SNUipp-FSU. This catastrophe was announced.
According to a union survey of 25,000 of its members, the increase in wages is the main demand to strengthen the attractiveness of the profession. That’s good: on August 25, Emmanuel Macron spoke at the rectors’ back-to-school conference (a first for a President of the Republic) and, in the midst of heterogeneous announcements (educational innovation fund of 500 million euros for “establishment projects”, “deep transformation” of the vocational high school, daily practice of sport in primary school, half-day per week in 5th grade dedicated to “discovering trades”, etc.), he promised a revaluation general of around 10% and reaffirmed a commitment from the previous mandate: “Not a teacher will start his career under 2000 euros net.”
A salary increase that will not arrive until September 2023
But this salary increase will not occur before September 2023 and it risks being undermined by inflation. Above all, a trainee school teacher starts at 1450 euros net (it would therefore have to be increased by more than 35%) and the 2000 euros are reached after about thirteen years… It is therefore the whole salary scale that should be see again. Despite the 3.6 billion euros more budget announced in early August for education in 2023, the unions are on the defensive.
“The profession is exhausted by the five years of Blanquer and the two years of Covid, recalls Guislaine David. The teachers held the school but only had contempt. Pap Ndiaye seems very determined. We will judge by actions. We are scalded by the previous mandate. However, professional organizations also require an effort on training and working conditions. Emmanuel Macron promised a “great consultation” on the future of the school in the fall to give, among other things, more autonomy to the establishments and to promote their projects. A two-speed school project, already denounce the unions.