The Academy of Toulouse is already preparing the back to school 2023. This Tuesday, January 17, the rector of the academy, Mostafa Fourar, presented the endowments and various educational priorities that will punctuate the next school year. The school map 2023 presents a decrease in demography in the first degree, that is to say the schools. A trend that would lead to a decrease in the staffing of positions, while in the second degree, the workforce on the rise in colleges and high schools shows a positive staffing of positions.
Declining demographics in the first degree
The overall trend is downward in the first degree. Toulouse Academy expects a total number of 233,705 students, i.e. -2,099 compared to the start of the 2022 school year. In Haute-Garonne, a reduction of -580 students is expected. In the Tarn-et-Garonne -282 and in the Tarn -518, the Tarn department also shows the most significant variation with a drop of -1.9% between 2022 and 2023. Consequently, the first degree will see a suppression of 42 FTE (Full Time Equivalent). The number of teachers for 100 students will increase slightly from 5.77 to 5.80 due to lower enrollment. On a national scale, the endowment amounts to -667 ETP in the first degree.
During the press conference, Mostafa Fourar emphasized the priorities for the start of the 2023 school year in the schools of the Toulouse academy. According to the rector, the means of teaching will make it possible to “finalize the ceiling at 24 of the classes of large section, CP and CE1 and to continue the duplication of the classes of large section in priority education”. The other priorities are based on support for inclusive schools and on strengthening replacements.
Positive endowment in the second degree
In the second degree, the tendency differs. For high schools and colleges of the Toulouse Academy, the endowment will be positive says Mostafa Fourar. In total, 75 FTEs will be added from the start of the 2023 academic year. Among them, 25 will be allocated to replacements. The Toulouse Academy also announces the endowment of 9 non-teaching FTEs which breaks down into 2 FTEs in administration, 2 FTEs for the management staff and the CPEs will be provided with 5 FTEs. In parallel, the number of pupils in the second degree will increase + 1,274 pupils. Haute-Garonne alone concentrates the increase in staff with an expected variation of + 1.593. The Tarn sees a variation of -125 at the start of the 2023 school year and the Tarn-et-Garonne expects -71.
Contacted by The Independent Opinionthe SNES-FSU is planning classes for 36 students for the start of the 2023 school year and once again regrets overcrowded classrooms. Faced with the lack of teachers, the rector ensures that the academy has now begun to build up its pool of contract workers for the next start of the school year scheduled for September 4, 2023. In addition, from February 2023, “recruitment Wednesdays” will be set up in the academic inspections (DSDEN). The goal is to establish a recruitment network for the months or even years to come for schools.
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An extra hour of French or mathematics
For the coming school year, strengthening the fundamentals is one of the priorities of the rectorate. In the second degree, an hour of French and additional mathematics will be introduced for sixth graders.
The sixth will have a weekly hour of French or mathematics in small groups provided by school teachers” announces Mostafa Fourar.
However, this additional hour will come at the expense of one hour of technology. An announcement that did not fail to make the SNES-FSU Toulouse react. “I don’t see how school teachers are going to be able to come and provide support. Dealing with academic difficulty by outsourcing to a person who only comes to college once a week makes no sense pedagogically”, castigates Pierre PriouretSecretary General of SNES-FSU Toulouse.
The rector of Toulouse Academy responds to the criticisms relating to this reinforcement of fundamental knowledge.
Some were moved by the removal of technology but obviously this removal is part of a reflection that will be named in the other levels of the college. Consultations will be launched very soon by the ministry. They will concern transformations in all college classes and are introduced in response to students who enter college without mastering the fundamentals,” reassures Mostafa Fourar.
However, between the lack of teachers, the difficulties of replacements or the overcrowded classes, the rector already announces that “the start of the 2023 school year promises to be complicated”.