The unions have expressed their disappointment with the measures taken by the Ministry of National Education against harassment.
By HR with AFP
© XOSE BOUZAS / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
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Ihe principals did not mask their disappointment with the Ministry of Education. The SNPDEN-Unsa, the main trade union in the profession, deplored this Monday, June 12 “the improvisation” of Grenelle on school harassment. The ministry wants each college to organize an hour of awareness on the subject between June 12 and 16.
“The message sent Friday for Monday is very badly received by the educational community. Because it does not send good signals: we are constantly improvising in this ministry, ”said Bruno Bobkiewicz, secretary general of SNPDEN-Unsa, to AFP. “The signal is ‘do this session because it’s time’. It looks like a communication stunt, like the opening of an umbrella. And it also gives the impression that we weren’t doing anything before,” he added.
Government under pressure
“If we want to change the fight against harassment, we still have the whole end of the year for real consultation. You have to take the time to see each other to find out how we deal with the subject of social networks, which is major in the fight against harassment, ”said the union representative again. The Ministry of Education, which has promised to strengthen the fight against this scourge after the suicide in May of Lindsay, a 13-year-old teenager, announced Sunday that all middle school students in France will have to follow this week an hour of awareness on ” bullying and social media.
Headteachers were notified on Friday, Bobkiewicz said. The Minister, Pap Ndiaye, has thus asked the principals of the 7,000 colleges in France (3.4 million students in total) to organize this intervention in conjunction with the educational teams.
READ ALSOHarassment: college students will follow an hour of awareness this week
Pap Ndiaye will also bring together Tuesday by videoconference the 14,000 heads of establishments (middle and high schools), as well as the inspectors of National Education (IEN) or the rectors, to “remind them of all the levers at their disposal” and “collect their feedback from the field”. Pressured by Lindsay’s family, who ended her life in May in Pas-de-Calais, the government announced last week that the fight against harassment would be the “top priority” for the start of the 2023 school year.
Recognizing that National Education has “still a long way to go”, Mr. Ndiaye promised on June 6 additional means to fight against school harassment. A referent on harassment (nurse, principal education adviser or teacher) must in particular be appointed in each establishment at the start of the school year.