French Education Minister announces that children’s “well-being” at school must be a priority for the 2022/2023 school year
In his official back-to-school bulletin published on June 30, 2022, the French Minister of Education calls for a school committed to the well-being of its students:
Circulaire de rentrée 2022 | Ministry of Education and Youth
“Increased attention to students’ mental health,
All the studies carried out in the wake of the health crisis show the deleterious effects it has had on young people’s mental health, leading in particular to anxiety disorders and low self-esteem. Pupils’ mental health is therefore an absolute priority: it’s a question of their health and the long-term self-building of each and every one of them. Starting this autumn, work will be launched to reinforce the role of medical and social staff and make their professions more attractive. Above and beyond this, the entire educational community has a duty to create a calm, caring learning environment that listens to students’ needs and builds their self-confidence. Particular attention must be paid to identifying and monitoring students who show signs of great psychological fragility.”
An admission by our Minister, Pap Ndiaye, that they are fully aware of the psychological distress of the children and young people we’ve been crying out for for months!
Given this urgency, we would like to ask what real resources will be put in place to ensure a calm, caring learning environment that listens to students’ needs and builds their self-confidence?
Isn’t the health protocol still in force in schools the antithesis of these priorities?
Children need concrete and urgent solutions to their distress, because it’s a fact that no longer needs to be proven!
It’s not about putting a band-aid on a wooden leg, it’s about saving their lives!
