Your kids are safer in school than at home France tells panicked parents sparking fury as classes reopen today
FRANCE’S Education Minister has been slated for sending kids to “the slaughterhouse” after classrooms reopened.
Jean-Michel Blanquer, 55, boasted that children are now safer studying in school as the country eases out of its eight-week coronavirus confinement.
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This week, about one million children and 130,000 teachers are returning to school, Blanquer said.
Yesterday, he was slammed on Twitter for being photographed too close to kids during a PR visit, and for failing to recognise the efforts of teachers during lockdown.
He boasted of "a serene pre-return" ahead of a gradual return to classrooms while visiting Blanche school in Paris.
Blanquer said youngsters had been welcomed back to lessons, while praising the "splendid commitment from teachers" for returning to school.
But one woman scorned his brag, tweeting: "A serene return to school?
"No soap in the toilets, not enough municipal staff, 3 teachers at risk so 3 teachers less, no gel (oh yes, a 5L can but no container), masks all on the others.
"It's not the school, it's a slaughterhouse."
Another slammed his proximity to kids in the class, saying: "Respect the distance! And put the mask back on your nose."
'NOT ON VACATION'
And one annoyed teacher pointed out: "To call this 'back to school' is to deny all the work done blindly by all teachers at all levels since the beginning of this crisis.
"We were not on vacation, so this is not a start! And yes, when you are a minister, words are important!"
France's gradual return to "near-normal" life comes as parents in the UK will face similar dilemmas about their school-age children.
All school kids in England will be sent back to class for a month before the summer holidays.
Class sizes will be slashed to no more than 15, and pupils will be made to sit apart to try to limit any spread of coronavirus.
Many French parents are deeply torn over whether they should send their child back to classrooms.
Only preschools and elementary schools are set to start up at first, and classes will be capped at ten students at preschools and 15 elsewhere.
Administrators were told to prioritise instruction for children ages five, six and ten.
Due to the slow startup, as well as ongoing fears about Covid-19 in hard-hit France, school attendance will not be compulsory right away.
Parents and guardians may keep children at home and teachers will provide lessons like they have during the nationwide lockdown.
No soap in the toilets, not enough municipal staff, 3 teachers at risk, it's not the school, it's a slaughterhouse.
Angry parent, Twitter
The reports that about half of France's teachers, along with a fifth of pupils, are returning to classrooms.
Blanquer insisted it was safer for children to attend school than remain at home.
He said: "The zero-risk society does not exist.
"Today we face many risks. [When children do not go to school] there are health check-ups that are not done, some do not eat properly and some face violence in their families.
"Many paediatricians say that there is a greater risk staying at home than in going to school."
Cecile Bardin, whose two sons are two and six, said she thinks it is too soon to put them back in their nursery and primary schools in Paris.
She added: "I am not reassured at the moment, because it will be very difficult to keep safe distance at school, especially for the little ones, who will want to play together."
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Classrooms are running differently, with teachers wearing masks and reminding children to social distance from each other and to wash their hands several times a day.
However some mayors in France are defying the government, by refusing to reopen local schools just yet.
Michele Berthy, mayor of the town of Montmorency, north of Paris, sent parents a letter saying the government's health guidelines were unenforceable.
