The school to the challenge of extreme poverty

The school to the challenge of extreme poverty

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Two families are resting in a primary school in Lyon where they are welcomed for the night, December 2, 2021.

There is the one who ordered a bed for a student on Leboncoin, there are the regulars of the pair of sneakers bought urgently on the social funds of the establishment, there are those who know how to detect the child who does not s didn’t wash, didn’t eat, didn’t sleep. After a return to school under the sign of inflation and the energy crisis, teachers and education staff accustomed to supporting the poorest families are worried. Will more of them need help this winter? Will those who have been weakened since the health crisis have even more difficulties than before?

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Wherever precariousness is daily, the fear of a year “violent” is felt. “Before last year, I had never seen high school students save food for friends who can’t afford the canteen”comments Catherine Ambeau, literature-history teacher in a vocational high school in Pessac (Gironde), who fears that some students will not be able to provide the material necessary for the proper functioning of the course. “Many of them come to see me saying: ‘In a month, I’ll have what I need, but that’s a little hard.’ »

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The families do everything, however, so that their difficulties are not seen. “On the first day of school, the parents had made an effort. The students arrived well dressed and well groomed.notes a REP + school director from Nanterre, who has worked for many years in priority education and does not wish to give his name. We feel that the families have taken care that the children are not impacted by their budget problems. » However, some warning points are already there. “Some have not yet paid for extracurricular care, around 20 euros per student for a term, raises the director. It may sound small, but if you have three children, it’s a small sum. »

“Their difficulties are not necessarily visible”

In schools that welcome families in difficulty, the educational teams are used to spotting the weak signals of extreme poverty, in particular when it affects housing conditions. “A child sleeping in class, you see it pretty quickly”notes Raphaël Vulliez, teacher in CE1 in a school in Croix-Rousse, in Lyon, and member of Never without a roof, a collective which has temporarily housed in schools more than 500 homeless children in the Lyon agglomeration since 2014. “From the moment the basic needs – such as sleeping enough, having enough to eat, bathing and having a roof – are not satisfied, the child can no longer manage to do so”remarks the teacher.

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