Staffing concerns threaten schools' rentrée

Several communes in France have postponed this year's school rentrée due to concerns over subsidised contracts for assistants.

Valorbiquet, in Calvados, this week announced that its schools would not open until at least a week later than originally planned due to cutbacks in government subsidies for support staff, such as kitchen assistants. Thousands of pupils across France could also find their holidays extended as other communes consider their options.

The mayor of Valorbiquet, Christelle Bacq-de-Paepe, said she was told at the end of July that government funding for five school support staff had been frozen, leaving her to find €67,500 to pay the workers and open the schools on time. She said that amount of money was impossible to find for a commune of 2,500 residents in such a short time.

Valorbiquet's decision came after schools in 18 of the 24 communes on Réunion delayed their rentree until August 22, four days later than scheduled due to funding shortfalls.

The Association des maires de France issued a statement on Monday, decrying the government's decision to cut funding, and calling for 'measures' to ensure that the school year starts - along with extra-curricular activities - 'amid good conditions'.

The group said that government funding this year will pay for 310,000 support staff, down from 459,000 in 2016.

The government says that the funding it supplies for these contracts is used to cover 'precarious, often part-time' jobs and is not intended to be a 'main instrument of employment policy' in schools.