Covid: half of schools closed Thursday, predicts the first union

The mobilization promises to be very popular in schools on Thursday, the day after the announcements of simplification of the health protocol for students by Prime Minister Jean Castex. The Snuipp-FSU, the leading primary school union, predicted on Tuesday that 75% of primary school teachers would be on strike, and that half of the schools would be closed on January 13, as part of the national strike against the Covid-19 protocol. implemented in schools. “This historic mobilization by its scale over the past twenty years is not a strike against the virus, but illustrates the growing fed up in schools”, writes the union in a press release published on Twitter. The Snuipp-FSU also denounces “deteriorating working conditions” and “the permanent lies of the Minister of Education”, Jean-Michel Blanquer, who had launched this Tuesday morning: “We are not going on strike against a virus”.Not a “strike against the virus” Monday evening, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a relaxation of the health protocol in the face of the Covid epidemic in schools and the risk of chaos. Three simple self-tests for contact cases at school, without the obligation of antigen or PCR testing, are now required. A new protocol which does not “protect the students” and which “disorganizes the school”, estimates the union, denouncing the fact that the school has become a “form of daycare”, with the fluctuating number of students in class. The Snuipp-FSU also points to “the non-replacement of sick teachers which is becoming untenable”. Thus, the Snuipp-FSU says that it “will make every effort so that the government finally hears the anger of the personnel. After January 13, if necessary, he will propose new unitary mobilizations in the face of government contempt, for the health security of the school and the necessary recruitment of personnel ”. Jean Castex reported 10,400 closed classes, or 2% of primary classes, Tuesday before the National Assembly. Jean-Michel Blanquer mentioned Tuesday morning 50,000 cumulative positive cases out of 12 million students. Source AFP