Pap Ndiaye promises “suitable” if not “optimal” conditions

The start of the school year should take place “under suitable conditions” but “not optimal”said Thursday, August 25, in the evening, the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, specifying that the salary increase promised for teachers would not take place until September 2023.

“The start of the new school year promises to be in conditions quite similar to last year, although conditions have deteriorated”said the minister on France 2, referring to the shortage of teachers which led to the hiring of “3,000 contractors”.

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“We are having difficulty recruiting tenured teachers”conceded the minister. “We have to deal with the situation which is tense, we are doing the best”he said, adding that these contract workers represented 0.3% of the total number of teachers.

“It’s a bit too much, I admit it very willingly, but we are doing the best we can to train them, support them”, detailed the minister. Despite these recruitments, there is still a shortage of 3,000 teachers for the start of the school year.

Make the job “more attractive”

“The start of the new school year is announced in suitable conditions, I would not say optimal”he continued, deeming it necessary to make the profession “more attractive”. To achieve this, the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, announced earlier in the day that the increase in teachers’ salaries would be “prosecuted”, so that none of them start their career “less than 2,000 euros net” per month. Currently, the 2,000 euros net are reached at step 8 on the salary grid (between thirteen and fourteen years of seniority).

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The Minister of National Education also added:

We are going to make proposals both for career entry, but also for career midfielders, which are also problematic. And then other proposals, because the reasons why the profession is less attractive than before are not only salary. The President of the Republic spoke of a 10% increase in remuneration [supplémentaire]we will exchange this fall [avec les organisations syndicales] to specify the conditions of this increasenot.

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The World with AFP