Around thirty teachers gathered on the morning of Thursday, November 30, in front of the Kléber college in Strasbourg, where a French teacher was threatened with death by a student. The establishment remained closed on Thursday due to a strike following the incident.
“One of our colleagues was threatened with death on Tuesday afternoon by a 3rd grade student whose cell phone he had confiscated. The student told him: “I'm bringing friends back from the exit, I'll kill you,” Gilles Comte, history and geography teacher, who took part in this gathering, explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP). to show [the] solidarity [of the teaching staff].” According to him, there were thirty-seven strikers among the thirty-eight teachers who were to have classes on Thursday.
“It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back, there are lots of incidents,” he continued, explaining that, since the start of the school year, a “colleague was attacked by a former student who "was introduced into the establishment with two other students", and that there were also "three explosions of firecrackers inside the establishment".
“There is no communication, no support from management, we have the impression of being abandoned,” regretted Mr. Comte. He specified that his colleague targeted by the death threats was a teacher who “puts a lot of effort” and who was “very touched” by the incident. He filed a complaint on Tuesday afternoon and has since been on sick leave.
Temporary exclusion of the student who made the threats
A precautionary measure was taken against the student who made the threats, excluded from the establishment until his appearance before the disciplinary council, scheduled for December 19. “We are no longer able to do our job well,” testified Charlotte Serisier, a French teacher, citing the “insults which recur very regularly”, “the systematic lateness of students”, the “triggering of fire alarms” which has become “the fashionable game since the start of the school year”.
With around seven hundred students, Kléber College is a “large establishment, with increased social diversity, which is good. We welcome students who come from REP [priority education networks], but we do not have suitable resources,” she described, holding a sign asking for “means to support all our students.”
The establishment also hosts a high school and preparatory classes. Jean-Pierre Gavrilovic, head of the National Union of High Schools, Colleges, Schools and Higher Education (SNALC) of the Strasbourg academy, told AFP that he was received by the head of the establishment on November 23 “following of the sharp deterioration in working conditions reported by [her] colleagues” but which she had “kicked aside”. The rectorate has, for the moment, not reacted.
