The National Education organises competitions to hire teachers, and there are fewer applicants. The result: France is experiencing a shortage of workers.
Contract workers are an option for academies, but it is important to let people know.
Charline Avenel (rector of Versailles Academy) makes extensive use of video and social networks to convince candidates to take part in a massive "job-dating" event that was held over four days.
Are you looking for a job? Is there a better job? She launches herself in front of the camera before inviting others to join her as a "teacher in schools, colleges, and high school" in one of four departments at her academy. In a half-hour interview, each participant will be able "convince" themselves that they are qualified to teach.
The Versailles Academy employs more than 90,000. It is the largest employer in Ile-de-France. It is missing some 2,000 teachers, which would ensure that September's return to school.
She proposes to hire not less than 1,300 contract educators with these "recruitment day". The four-day session will last from Monday May 30 to Thursday June 4.
Is there any success? Monday morning, a crowd assembled in front of Versailles' rectorate. There were many profiles to the crowd: some people are looking for retraining, others are graduates who are unemployed.
On the basis of "job-dating", "Become a teacher within 30 minutes" This initiative is not good for the teaching staff. Currently, holders must have a bac 5 in order to become teachers (master's level). However, this is not true for contract workers who can apply at much lower levels.
Then, there is the shocking part: It takes only 30 minutes to become teacher, compared to five years for most teachers. This reaction was echoed by thousands of Internet users who discovered the initiative.
While the rectorate might promise that successful candidates will be "accompanied", many families are concerned about the quality education provided for their children. These neo-profs have a unique knowledge, which includes their ability to "hold" a classroom, to be pedagogues and to accurately assess students.
Many people laugh at candidates whose motivation is to "change their lives" or "get busy" with skills far beyond what it takes to teach.
Job-dating on the union side is less appealing: "Teaching a profession that is learnable" launches, for example, the Snes-FSU Hauts-de-Seine.
Recalling the fact that the vocations crisis has been documented for a long time and the fact that French professors are paid the lowest salaries in developed countries is a reminder.
The contract teachers "selected" will be given the chance to participate in the competitions. This will allow the rectorate to increase its workforce.
The rectorate published the monthly remuneration of each position, ranging from 2022 to 2327 EUR gross per month, depending on the diploma level, in general education to 1820 to 2903 EUR gross per month, depending upon the diploma level and experience in technical and vocational education. In certain cases, such as teaching in a priority education network or other teaching positions, bonuses are available. ).
Is it enough? Latifa (44), a professional retraining student, isn't worried about her salary dropping "by half". She assures that "if it's to do work that fulfills my values, then I'm willing to make sacrifices."
She is motivated by something else: "After fifteen years in the corporate sector, I needed to give purpose to my life," she said. She plans to be an English teacher in middle school or high school.
