Thursday, December 1, the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, indicated that there would be no school in the morning in areas that will suffer power cuts scheduled during the winter.
Il “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 time slots: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and then 6 p.m. to 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 in Paris.
“These two morning slots, if they are in an area that is subject to load shedding, will result in the return of pupils on the day in question to take place at the start of the afternoon, with no doubt a meal which will nevertheless be planned for students 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 pointed out that it would also be “an important question with regard to catering and extracurricular activities in the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. slot”. “Sheets will also be sent to schools, to be ready”, he detailed. Otherwise, “schools located near structures that will not be subject to load shedding” will be able “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’re going to work on all of this.”he said again.
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 informing 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 “his strong concern”.