On Wednesday March 20, the Senate adopted a text aimed at transferring from the State to the departments the competence of “school medicine” to respond to the difficulties of accessing the school health check, a proposal regularly brought to the Upper House but declined until now by the government.
The bill from centrist senator Françoise Gatel plans to entrust, for an experimental period of five years and to voluntary departments, “school medicine competence and obligations relating to health checks and health promotion in schools”. The terms of this transfer of skills and credits would be concluded by an agreement, with the provision of State services ” free of charge “.
Placed under the supervision of national education, school medicine aims to ensure the promotion of health in schools, through medical monitoring of students, prevention actions within establishments and screenings. For this, it relies on “national education doctors”school nurses and social workers.
“Profound reform”
Faced with shortages and territorial disparities – 46% of school doctor positions are currently vacant, according to figures presented to the Senate –, “there is a need to profoundly reform, to clarify the system, to decentralize it”urged Mme Gatel, supported on all benches, including within the Renaissance group.
The Minister of Education, Nicole Belloubet, recognized the “significant difficulties” encountered by the sector, but she pointed out the “risk of complexity in the distribution of skills in education” between the State and local authorities and fears additional resignations of school doctors.
Nineteen departments have already expressed their interest in this experiment, according to a count from the Assembly of Departments of France. The text adopted in the Senate is now transmitted to the National Assembly, without certainty that it will be included on the agenda.