A "painful blow" to Macron ahead of the elections Why are the strikes paralyzing France's education?

Since the middle of the week, France has been experiencing a general strike in the education sector, with half of the country's schools completely suspended and tens of thousands of protesting teachers swarming its streets, in another painful blow to Macron's government less than 90 days before the presidential elections.

Less than 90 days away from a presidential election in which the French president hopes to win a second term, the streets of Paris refused to confirm once again the failure of the Macron government's policies in managing social files, especially as the country is reeling under the weight of the epidemic and its horrific economic effects.

This is how the French capital, and other cities in the country, re-enacted the scenes of labor strikes at the end of 2019, this time led by education sector workers who went to protest, declaring a general strike that completely disrupted half of French schools.

While their demands centered on providing an effective policy to confront the large spread of cases of corona infection among students, after the confusion in which the ministry responsible for the sector fell in this regard, in order to protect the educational staff as well as teachers, and to ensure the continuation of the learning path correctly after it was disrupted by the measures to combat the epidemic in schools.

Spark start

The spark for the strikes was due to the decisions adopted by the French Education Minister, Michel Blanqui, who insisted that schools remain open at a time when the country is witnessing record numbers of infection caused by the spread of the Omicron mutant. This is with the assignment of teachers and school nurses to ensure the safety of students before entering lessons, in a strenuous process that takes place without providing them with protective equipment.

In a statement to the public opinion , a union of seven unions, comprising the category of education workers, announced its rejection of the measures, condemning “the unilateral decision of the minister, which was taken without the participation of workers in taking it to keep schools open,” without providing the necessary protections for workers or the human resources necessary to complete those measures. ".

The unions' statement added, "This situation has thrown the schools into a state of chaos, which would negatively affect the learning process of the teachers." He stressed that "during the school closure period, we maintained the continuity of the academic path, but by doing these measures, we are facing intermittently."

This prompted the unions to declare a general strike in which more than 75% of the education workers participated, and as a result, half of the country's schools were disrupted, what the media described as "historic" due to the extent of participation in it. As well as the call for a national disembarkation of tens of thousands of workers to participate in a protest march that was held in the streets of Paris on Thursday, January 13th.

In response to this, the French Minister of Education rushed in an attempt to calm the anger, as he later announced the distribution of 5 million FPP2 protective masks, as well as the appointment of 3,300 additional contractors to compensate for the absence of teachers who were injured, in contact with or who had to care for their sick children. While the unions are still insisting on their demand to abolish the new procedures, and to return to the old protocol, where classrooms were closed if injuries were discovered, and the distance education process continued.

The situation of "hell" in the French school

"We are despised, exploited, for low wages; that is why we protest!" With these words, French teachers described the situation in which they are living as a result of the Macron government's policies in the Gaza Strip.

In a testimony carried by Médiapart from the protests, one protester described the chaos in the French school, saying: "Children are sick, teachers are sick as well, and parents in this situation live on their nerves. We live in a climate of constant tension."

Another testimonial adds: "No, the school doors are not open, as Michel Blanqui promotes. I teach only five students in the morning, eleven in the evening, and twenty the next. Between this and that I had to work from two to three hours. Additional fees for those who were absent to keep up with the educational process.

Another says: "We feel like scapegoats for the Macron government's policies, with the children of the nursery school, where the epidemic moves freely among children who are exempt from wearing protective masks."

In another reportage for Le Monde newspaper, the principal of a school in Cergy (north of Paris) describes the situation in his institution as "hell". 140 out of 250 students are absent from classrooms, and teachers spend at least four hours each day, in harsh weather conditions, to check on students' safety before entering school.

Only during the first week of January this year, more than 5,631 teachers and 47.5 thousand students were infected with Corona, and more than 9,202 classrooms were closed as a result, according to the statistics of the French Ministry of Education.

A blow to Macron

A strike by French education workers is a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron, less than 90 days away from the presidential election. "No one in the head of state expected a national strike by teachers and education workers, and no one imagined the turnout he knew," confirms a report in Le Monde newspaper.

He added that it was "the most embarrassing event (for Macron's government) less than 90 days before the first round of the presidential election, where it was not expected that the representatives of parents would join the discontent of teachers in the face of a health protocol, which is a development that is too heavy, too complex, too fast." .

On the other hand, observers believe that the event represented a golden opportunity for Macron's rivals to pounce on him, and even threaten to completely finish off his ambitions for a second term. This is what we notice through the actions of those competitors, led by the leader of "Proud France", Jean-Luc Melenchon, who accused Blanqui of seeking to "destroy the French school". And he called on the Greens candidate, Yannick Gaddo, to "stop abusing teachers."

On the right, an adviser to the GOP candidate, Damien Abad, blamed the education minister for "the great chaos inside the French school". He also criticized Emmanuel Macron's state balance sheet, saying: "He has failed to make education a vehicle for social advancement. Today equal opportunity is a sham and social progress is an illusion."