Reforms and strike for the rentrée

PUPILS are back to school today for a rentrée that will be marked once again by strikes.
All of the teaching unions plan to strike on September 27, in protest at cuts in posts – 1,500 in primary and 4,800 in secondary.
With another 14,000 planned next year, a total of some 80,000 will have been cut over the Sarkozy presidency.
This school year also sees reforms of the première, for example, aimed at more flexibility for students who change career plans part-way through lycée.
New anti-bullying measures are also due, as is an experiment in certain schools of allowing heads to play a role in recruitment of teachers.
Normally in state schools teachers are assigned to a school without the head’s input, but in the test schools heads will interview candidates and give an opinion on their suitability.