Thanks to the decline of the Omicron wave, elementary school students in zone B, returning from vacation, find, Monday, February 21, a lighter health protocol. The latter goes from level 3 to level 2 in primary schools (nursery and elementary) following the winter holidays in the different zones (21 February, therefore, for zone B, 28 February for zone A, 7 March for area C).
The first to return are the schoolchildren of the academies of Strasbourg, Nancy-Metz, Reims, Lille, Amiens, Rouen, Caen, Rennes, Nantes, Orléans-Tours, Nice and Aix-Marseille. Colleges and high schools remain at level 2 protocol.
Thus come into force:
- The lifting of the obligation to wear a mask in the playground in elementary schools – it was already not compulsory for kindergarten children.
- A reduction in the rules for mixing students, who can now be more widely mixed with comrades of their level and no longer only of their class.
- The practice of physical activity indoors and without a mask, with the exception of contact sports.
- The end of the sworn statements submitted by families following the first self-test.
Towards the end of the mask inside the classes
The Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, recently mentioned the possibility that children might “very likely” take off the mask indoors at school “before the end of the school year”.
The reduction of the health protocol for the start of the winter holidays is made possible thanks to a health situation “significantly improved”. According to figures published Friday by the rue de Grenelle, there are currently – with two areas on vacation – 2,274 classes closed, once morest 16,836 on February 3.
According to the level 2 protocol, “students can be divided into a class corresponding to their level in the absence of their teacher”writes the ministry in the frequently asked questions updated on its website.
A calmer situation than in January
A la cantine, “Group stability is sought and, as far as possible, the same pupils have lunch every day at the same table in the first level. It is recommended to organize an individual service (trays, cutlery, water, dressing on the plate or on the tray)”he continues. “Meetings with the parents of students must first and foremost be organized according to a system of making appointments, to avoid too many people mixing together”he notes.
For Guislaine David, general secretary of SNUipp-FSU, the first primary school union, “The resumption of school will be much more serene than it was in January”. “This protocol relief is being done gradually, it’s reassuring because you still have to remain vigilant”.
The rules will also be relaxed for the tests: from February 28, contact case students will no longer have to do three but only one following two days. This relaxation will concern all contact cases in the population.