For the second year in a row, Gwénaëlle and Jérôme Poiroux have decided to refuse to enroll their three children in a school. An act of “civil disobedience” which has already cost them a lot.
It all started in 2016 for the Poiroux family. Since 2014, Manon, their first daughter, has been educated in a Montessori school in Mayenne. Carrier of Down syndrome and monitored, she developed, according to her parents, urinary retention and failed to thrive. “We had to go to the emergency room several times to have her catheterized,” said her father. “The school called us, while Manon was writhing in pain.”
The click will come shortly after. “That was the end of year assessment. We were offered to put her in a medical-educational institute. It was not possible,” summarizes Gwénaëlle Poiroux. Family education (IEF) will then become self-evident for the two osteopaths who will begin work on it from the start of the 2016 school year. “We then kept this pace for the last two. And all the controls that we have “We have been positive. Things have changed in 2022.”
The law of August 24, 2021
Before the law of August 24, 2021, parents could practice family education upon simple declaration. But since September 2022, things have changed. They must now request authorization from academic services. A change that disrupted the daily life of this family who fell in love with Aveyron in 2021.
“We have decided to enter into civil disobedience by sending a letter in September 2022,” says Jérôme Poiroux calmly. “All of this seemed absurd to us,” adds his wife. “It was a video from the Enfance Libre association, which we then joined, which made us decide. Even though we could have had this authorization in 2022.”
Social survey and national gendarmerie
After a letter reminding them of the law in September, then a formal notice in October, the Toulouse academy, in a letter dated November 15, informed them of the launch against them of a reporting procedure to the public prosecutor. Republic.
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The social component begins in January 2023, first with telephone interviews, then with a visit to the living quarters, the camper van and the couple’s house in Conques-en-Rouergue, and finally the individual meeting of their three children. “It was trying,” concedes Gwénaëlle Poiroux. “It was a bit strange, I don’t feel in danger,” adds Océane, the youngest of the three sisters, mischievously. The report is intended to be reassuring and positive, even if it notes that none of the children have received a dose of vaccination and that the eldest requires support from trained professionals. “Manon, Océane and Chloé are generally evolving in a harmonious manner. [….] They are loving parents who are invested in their three daughters.”
Gwénaëlle and Jérôme Poiroux are the parents of Manon, 12 years old, Océane, 9 years old, and Chloé, 6 years old.
At the same time, the couple will be questioned by the gendarmerie brigade. “We were each interviewed in turn with our fingerprints taken, we were ranked among the ranks of criminals,” explains Jérôme Poiroux. Despite this, the legal aspect will not go any further for the spouses. “We know we’re outlaws, but we didn’t expect this.” The troubles will continue for the couple who chose to continue their “civil disobedience” for a new school year.
A second year of struggle
“Our social benefits stopped in August,” remembers the mother. “We had someone assure us that it was related to our choice of instruction.”
A situation that complicates the financial balance of the family. “It’s very hard for us. Education costs us and takes a lot of time. We live on a salary for five. But we want to preserve so that we can look at ourselves in the mirror, saying to ourselves we’ve tried everything.”
In the meantime, the family should surely receive a new letter from the Toulouse academy in a few days, before the checks start again. “We took the lead and contacted the gendarmerie and the municipality. Now, we wait. We teach our children the values of the Republic and we hope that the Administration will respect them,” concludes Gwénaëlle Poiroux.
Suspension of family benefits
The Caf de l’Aveyron is carefully following the Poiroux family’s case. She “was informed of the suspension of her aid, in accordance with the legislation and following the refusal of family education by the Directorate of Departmental National Education Services, followed by a report to the public prosecutor. Republic for the three children of the Poiroux family, currently out of school”, she confirms to us.
In practice, it is an instance department responsible for the prevention of school avoidance in the department of Aveyron, brought together by the Prefect and the Departmental Directorate of National Education Services (DSDEN), which examines the situation of families who have been refused authorization for family education.
Family benefits are suspended, at the request of the DSDEN and the Prefect, as soon as a report has been made to the public prosecutor and the family still refuses to enroll the children in a school..
2023-11-11 11:29:58
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