During the summer, Gabriel Attal had announced an increase of 3.6 billion euros in the credits allocated to the national education budget for the year 2023. According to the presentation of the ministry, on 26 September this increase will be 3.7 billion. of Euro. Reaching 60.18 billion euros, the budget dedicated to agricultural education and training increased by 6.5% compared to 2022. The government explains this increase with the desire to “strengthen the attractiveness of the teaching profession and the means to pedagogical innovation “.
Much of this envelope will go to the salary increase of teachers, Pap Ndiaye has repeatedly explained his desire to create “a shock of attractiveness”.
In PLF 2023, € 935 million is earmarked for this salary increase to “increase teachers’ salaries by an average of 10% at the start of the 2023 school year”.
Up-to-date teachers but less?
The draft budget provides for the elimination of almost 2,000 teaching places (1,000 places in the first public level, 500 in the second public level and 500 in the private sector). The main explanatory factor lies in the demographic decline that the country is currently experiencing. “In ten years, France has gone from 830,000 annual births to 728,000. Between 2022 and 2027 there will be 500,000 fewer pupils”, underlines the Ministry of National Education which estimates that at the next beginning of the school year there will be almost 100,000 fewer pupils, of which 90,000 in 1st grade.
During his hearing before the National Assembly on August 2, Pap Ndiaye said he would “proceed with the closure of the classes”, specifying that these would be done “with great discernment”. If the draft budget does not mention closure, “the demographic decline has only a limited effect on employment in 2023”, explains rue de Grenelle.
The reduction in the number of teachers remains less than the reduction in the number of pupils. Therefore, jobs will be reassigned in particular to continue duplication of major section classes in priority education and to complete the limit of 24 students in major section classes, CP and CE1 in all institutions.
Existing systems made permanent
Several programs launched in the previous five years have been made permanent and extended. This is the case with the offer of free breakfasts at school, which will be continued and financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. In 2021-2022, 245,000 students were able to benefit from it.
The Ministry of Education also specifies that the experiments on local support contracts (CLA) and on rural educational territories (TER) will be extended: a budget of 9 million euros is dedicated to these measures.
The fund for educational innovation announced by Emmanuel Macron has finally materialized: 150 million euros are destined to finance local educational projects. By 2027, this fund will reach 500 million euros.
Asked about the compensation of the municipalities for the costs of private nurseries, following the compulsory schooling for children aged 3 and over, the ministry indicates that the budget remains stable, around 35 million euros. “It is a counter-expense, ie automatic as soon as a municipality that meets the criteria requests it. Furthermore, aid to local authorities regarding school buildings and the energy expenditure of these buildings does not fall within the remit of the Ministry of National Education, they are not mentioned in the PLF.
5.5 million for the plan “for a relaunch of animation”
The youth budget increased by almost 10% over the previous year. If two thirds of the endowment concern the development of civic service, the economic efforts are also destined to animation and associative life. The latter sees its budget increase by 47% to reach 4.1 million euros by 2023.
As part of the plan “for a relaunch of animation in the collective reception of minors”, presented last February, “in 2023 strengthened means are allocated for animation to allow its implementation, up to 5.5 million ‘ euro, ‘explains rue de Grenelle. The sector committee is currently working on the challenges of the sector and Sarah El Hairy is expected to make announcements soon.
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