Faced with the organized shipwreck of National Education for many years,
some parents choose to put their children in private schools. Weremember Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, more credible as a comedian than as
Minister of Education who had chosen to place these children in the very
reactionary Stanislas college, whose motto is: "French without fear,
Christian without reproach". ---- But there are much more discreet
establishments in terms of resources and staff that nestle in the cracks
of the public school. The "L B" school where I worked for two years is
one of them. Here, no religious propaganda. The students come from
wealthy backgrounds, but not always (EUR5,000, then EUR6,000 per school
year!). The key word is the support of students, few in number,
presenting various and varied disorders (dys disorders, autism,
hyperactivity, attention disorders, eating disorders, etc.). The
pedagogy claims to be that of Célestin Freinent and Maria Montessori, an
approach that favors the support of the student rather than the
assimilation of a defined program without taking into account the
difficulties specific to each child.
And this is where the main argument of this establishment lies, faced
with the glaring lack of Accompanying Students with Disabilities (AESH)
in public national education, many prefer to pay. Many parents of
students can afford it, but not all. Most choose "L B" to avoid what we
see every year: lack of teachers, overcrowded classes, unsanitary
establishments. The school takes care of children, from kindergarten to
third grade. Private, not under contract, it receives no public
subsidies and must take into account the tuition fees of the parents,
who derive too much power over the life of the establishment. In middle
school, I had middle school students, between 10 and 20 per class. A
dream for a teacher.
But the dream does not last, obviously. Small number of students, the
same goes for the teachers. Three teachers, the director, two
supervisors and about ten self-employed to teach the middle school.
Self-employed, or rather disguised employees, for the most part. Of
course, most of my colleagues gave private lessons on the side, which
was not my side. Officially, my contract designated me as a "service
provider", not a teacher. Who says self-employed, says social
contributions at the expense of the worker, unpaid school holidays. The
teachers were on permanent contracts and were aware of the financial
management of the school, not us. Recently, an English teacher had EUR3
taken off his hourly rate to pay for the school's photocopies... while
the reams of paper are provided by the students' parents. The amount of
our hourly rate was confidential, otherwise beware of the wrath of the
headmistress if we talked about it among ourselves. Officially, the
school's finances were not strong enough to employ everyone on a
permanent contract, a version that only holds up for the time being,
because the financial data is inaccessible to self-employed people.
Not a great job, but to discover the profession, why not. Then, we
become familiar with the establishment and the dysfunctions no longer
jump out at us. We are criticized for making too many photocopies while
the number of textbooks is clearly insufficient, 1 for 2 students on
good days, the organization of report cards, classes and discipline that
change according to the headmistress's moods. While we had to be
attentive to the students' particularities, we were surprised, some
mornings, to discover new students in the class without knowing their
history, their disorders or their achievements.
Situations of students sometimes unmanageable, who acted without major
consequences. But a student is excluded for three days for his behavior,
when he returns nothing changes, the director wants to exclude him a
second time, but the parents refuse. The student stays.
But the worst comes with winter. Still with the aim of saving money,
heating is rationed. The director decreed that heating from 6 a.m. to 8
a.m. was enough to have a good temperature in winter, in a poorly
insulated building. The nursery room displayed 15°C, the cushions soaked
with humidity. The children therefore attended class in jackets. A
teacher contracted a severe ENT infection.
A EUR50,000 fine was required by the courts for harassment of the
headmistress towards two former teachers. The lack of means displayed
can be understood... but when I left the school, I heard that the
treasury showed a surplus of EUR35,000, the business is doing well anyway.
Although there is an indisputable educational aspect provided by the
teams, particularly in primary school, it remains a business. Both in
the cash register and in the managerial mentality. A management more of
money than of instruction. Several staff reported that during their sick
leave, the director kept sending them emails, thus putting them under
pressure.
Pressure for photocopies, change of rules at the drop of a hat. The
teachers who parade each year, the students have thus known no less than
four English teachers in one year, and not had a French teacher for a
month and a half, the director taking charge of the lessons (even though
she comes from the world of communication). The attitude of the parents
is not without reproach either. Very often, one has the impression that
it is not an alternative pedagogy that they are looking for their
children, but a brand, a social distinction. It sounds good to put your
kid in a "Montessori" school (although it is a pedagogy worthy of
interest) a social distinction like some people buy a Tesla; but which
ultimately remains a commercial service.
A self-employed person in education facing a required voluntary servitude.!
https://cntaittoulouse.lautre.net/spip.php?article1408
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