No class closures in election year
Sarkozy pledges to freeze primary school class closures - but thousands of teaching posts will still be scrapped
PRESIDENT Sarkozy has pledged to freeze the government's policy of closing primary school classes - but not until September 2012, after the elections.
During an official visit in the Lozère, Sarkozy said the number of classes would remain stable from this September to next, but he said the government would continue its policy of not replacing half of teachers who retire.
About 1,500 primary classes will close this September, prompting growing numbers of local protests by teachers and parents' associations. About 16,000 teaching jobs are due to be scrapped at the same time - about 9,000 of which will be in primary schools.
Next year a further 14,000 posts are expected to be cut across the French education system through non-replacement of staff.
Parents' union FCPE said it was "worried" about staffing levels for this September's rentrée and could not understand how further posts could be cut in 2012 without classes being sacrificed.
"What use is this announcement about September 2012 when no one knows who will be in power by then?" the union asked.
"It's September 2011 that parents and local representatives are worried about."
Nord MP Yves Durand, a Socialist, added: "Nicolas Sarkozy must think we are naive. How can you claim to not be closing classes and announce 14,000 job cuts at the same time?"
