The Minister of Education has promised “a return to school as normal as possible”. A challenge as the fourth wave leaves the risk of a new epidemic outbreak. The situation is particularly tense for primary schools where children under 12 do not have access to vaccination. Half of new infections will occur in children, already predicts the Pasteur Institute.
While the Minister of National Education has announced a target of 600,000 tests per week for primary school students, the Scientific Council recommends a more extensive screening policy. Without this, the start of the school year could be “very complex” with repeated class closings, they warn.
Contrary to the protocol in force in middle and high schools, primary classes, which accommodate around 4 million students, will close in the first case of contamination (read our article). “In this unvaccinated population, the risk of intense circulation of the virus at the start of the school year is very high, and the rule of closing classes from the first case could make the reopening of the primary very complex, especially in the event of closure”, warns the Scientific Council.
The Scientific Council recommends two tests per week
The government council body “regrets the abandonment of screening (generalized screening or better reactive screening of the class when a case is detected)” which would help achieve the objective “of keeping classes and schools open in order to preserve the education and mental health of children ”.
According to the Council, a bi-weekly screening “with” an adhesion of 50% of the school population […] would keep classes open if found infants are sent home ”.
A recommendation that joins the demands of the federation of parents’ councils (FCPE) which fears “an educational disaster” with the closure of classes from the first case. “There are spaces available to accommodate classes outside of schools. If you have a class with a positive case, you can very well leave it open and perform saliva tests for the other students every morning, ”says Rodrigo Arenas, the co-president of the FCPE.
Asked by Public Senate on the establishment of iterative tests, that is to say repeated two or three times weeks to act upstream, the Minister of Education does not exclude them. “In the territories where the virus circulates very strongly we are able to have iterative tests”, assured Jean-Michel Blanquer during his conference, Thursday (read our article).
The installation of CO2 sensors in classrooms is the responsibility of local authorities
In the Senate, elected officials urge the government to provide the means to communities so that they can equip themselves with CO2 detectors. “Aerosols are the main vector of contamination,” recalls the president of the LR group, Bruno Retailleau. The Vendée senator pleads for the support of costs shared between the State and the communities to equip the classes with CO2 sensors. Other countries have already taken this initiative, such as Ireland and Quebec.
The Minister of Education encourages the generalization of CO2 sensors but clarified that the subject fell within the competence of local communities. Same argument for the installation of air purifiers in the classrooms, again demanded by the opposition.
Only a few days before the start of the new school year, Jean-Michel Blanquer assures us that “We can be completely serene about this new school year. […] Of course, there will be problems, we put ourselves in a position to manage ”.
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