This Tuesday, October 19, the accompanying persons of students with disabilities (AESH) are on strike everywhere in France. They denounce, among other things, their working conditions and their precarious status. The mobilization promises to be important according to the unions.
The AESH have decided to make their voices heard again. They are on strike this Tuesday, October 19. This is the fourth national mobilization of the year. But this time, the unions are calling for a great mobilization everywhere in France. Their demands are numerous. Supporters of students with disabilities protest for “their salary, their status, their working conditions and their recruitment up to the needs”, report it SNUipp uniontarget = “_ blank”>. They demand the revaluation of their profession, once and for all.
An unrecognized profession
Today the AESH’s status is still precarious. They perform a public service mission but they are not civil servants. They only benefit from a public law contract signed with the National Education. They are recruited on a three-year fixed-term contract, renewable once, then after six years on a permanent contract. On average, they work 24 hours a week, “on incomplete times imposed with a average salary of 750-800 €“, declares the South union to our colleagues in West Francetarget = “_ blank”>.
In addition, professionals point the finger at their working conditions since the start of the school year. In September, more than 400,000 children with disabilities returned to school. And new this year, the inclusive localized support centers (Pial), which help pool support resources in the region, have become widespread. Help that complicates the work of AESH more than anything else. “We are asked to support more and more students for fewer and fewer hours. So we find ourselves in a situation where we support four, five or six students, sometimes in several schools or in several establishments, sometimes simultaneously. “, indignant Manuel Guyader, AESH and representative of the intersyndicale SUD-Education, at the microphone of France Intertarget = “_ blank”>.
The government’s promises
Faced with this situation, the government has already announced a few commitments, including a small one. salary increase and l” establishment of an index grid, which will guarantee “never to be below the minimum wage and to have real career prospects”.
On August 26, during a back-to-school press conference, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer also supported “on September 1, 2021, we will devote 60 million euros to the upgrading of AESH”. Promises that remain to be confirmed.