Under the sun, union flags flutter in the wind and music echoes in the small courtyard. Thursday morning, about forty demonstrators responded to the call of the inter-union Var (CGT, FO, FSU, SNALC and Sud Solidaires) in front of the Academic Inspectorate of National Education.
Such a gathering had already taken place in February. Revalued wages, civil servant status, full-time contracts: all are demanding “better working conditions” for those accompanying pupils with disabilities (AESH). These contract workers accompany children from kindergarten to high school. They are said to be nearly 2,500 agents, often women, in the Var department alone.
“No more benchmarks”
They are called Delphine, Malika or Stéphanie and are the few who made the trip to Toulon.
“Going on strike cuts off too much of the salary”, justifies a trade unionist from Sud Solidaires. Stéphanie, she drags six years of fixed-term contract. “The job is rewarding, we help our neighbor. But in such conditions, without support, the children are abandoned, blast the quadra. We follow three or four students at a time, in different schools. With several guides, the kids no longer have a point of reference, they are lost. “
Difficulties accentuated by “a lack of training” for Delphine, 39, who is just starting out in the profession.
One hour meeting
For a little over an hour, the secretary general of the Academic Inspectorate Serge Grevoul received a delegation.
“Aware” of the difficulties of the AESH, he undertook to transmit all the demands to the rectorate. It is also recorded, a working group, made up of National Education and demonstrators, will meet on June 29.
Another avenue: inflate contracts, extending them from 24 to 32 hours How? The AESH could intervene in school restaurants, being paid by the town halls.
More, “no answer is satisfactory, deplores Françoise Tomaszyk, academic secretary for the SNALC union(1). They did not accede to our requests. The question is however pressing, more and more pupils need an accompanist. “
At the end of 2020, around 150 children from the Var were not being followed due to a lack of available agents.
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