There “will be no school in the morning” in areas that will suffer scheduled and targeted power cuts this winter, Education Minister Pap Ndiaye confirmed on Thursday, announcements that worry teacher unions. “The scheduled power cuts will indeed affect schools and educational establishments, according to three slots: 8 a.m.-10 a.m., 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and then 6 p.m.-8 p.m. in the evening. The first two slots are the school slots, which are the most critical”, said Pap Ndiaye to the press, during a trip to the Educatech Expo fair in Paris.
Back to school in the early afternoon
“These two morning slots, if they are in an area that is subject to load shedding, will have the consequence that the return of pupils on the day in question will take place at the beginning of the afternoon, with undoubtedly a meal which will nevertheless be planned for students who are in the canteen. So there will be no school in the morning,” he added. Matignon made public on Thursday a circular intended for the prefects so that they anticipate and prepare the population, businesses and administrations for power cuts.
Pap Ndiaye stressed that this would also be “an important question with regard to catering and extracurricular activities in the 6-8 p.m. slot”. “Sheets will also be sent to schools, to be ready,” he explained. In addition, “schools located near structures which will not suffer from load shedding” will be able to “welcome the children of priority personnel, according to a scheme which was also tested during the health crisis”. “There is not yet a map of these load shedding, nor of course, including for security reasons, priority structures. We are going to work on all of this”, he further indicated.
Unions worried
The teachers’ unions have expressed their concerns and their surprise at these announcements. “We have the impression of reliving the improvisation and the DIY that we had known with the management of the Covid. The information arrives without having been worked on and raises a lot of questions”, such as “the methods of information to families”, reacted to AFP Stéphane Crochet, secretary general of SE-Unsa. “We relive exactly the same thing as under the Covid”, added Sophie Vénétitay of Snes-FSU, the first secondary school union. “We feel a mixture of surprise and anger.” The Snalc (colleges and high schools) expressed “its strong concern”.