A new sectorization of colleges thought in a logic of social diversity, and no longer by the simple prism of proximity. This is the major project in which the Loire-Atlantique department council is embarking. With the town hall and the rectorate, the community announced this Friday the first big changes that the approach will generate in Nantes. At the start of the 2024 school year, three colleges will close to move to the new establishment currently under construction in the city center (which will replace the old Vial high school). If we knew that the rather privileged pupils of Jules-Verne and Guist’hau, just next door, would be assigned there, the novelty is that those of the Rosa-Parks college will also have their place there since their establishment, located in the popular district of Breil, will close next year.
An idea came after an “imbalance” was identified in the west of Nantes, based on the social position index. “This indicator is very high, around 145, in the city center colleges, while it is only 67 at the Rosa-Parks college, reports Michel Ménard, the president (PS) of the departmental council. For us, diversity is not negotiable, it is a republican project, students must be able to meet regardless of their background. It was therefore necessary to work on the resectorisation of the colleges and better articulate them with the schools. »
Questions and concerns to raise
For a year, a lot of preparation and support work will be carried out with the teams and families of these three establishments, and in particular with those of Breil. It will be necessary to organize the assignment of teachers, the daily movements of pupils, access to school catering, the establishment of tutoring, and more generally “work on the representation of these children who will have to be welcomed as best as possible” , estimates Patricia Galeazzi, inspector of academy.
Does this upheaval risk favoring private education, already very strong in the department? On the contrary, believes the county council, which does not deny “the questions and concerns” that these changes will cause on both sides. “We have families who will return to the public precisely so that their children can study in this new college, wants to reassure Vincent Danis, vice-president education. We don’t see why they will be under house arrest. »
Other projects to improve diversity
In the years to come, it will be the turn of the Collège de la Durantière to undergo transformations in order to “rework its attractiveness”. A reflection will also be organized around the Debussy college, by 2030. In the meantime, a new college must open in 2024 in Saint-Herblain to replace Ernest-Renan. By changing the sector, the objective is again to improve the mix.