an emergency solution found for 6 deaf children near Toulouse
In Ramonville-Saint-Agne, the school is recognized as a teaching center for young deaf people. A success that is dressed in new students from all over France. 6 children had been refused this schooling for the start of the school year. An exceptional exemption has just been granted.
The Jean Jaurès school in Ramonville-Saint-Agne near Toulouse is overwhelmed with requests. It has become an example for the schooling of deaf children. So much so that parents do not hesitate to move from all over France and sometimes even from Europe to educate their child near Toulouse. However, the number of places is limited to 56 to maintain the quality of education.
For this start of the 2022 school year, 6 children from 4 families had not been able to integrate this school to the great dismay of their parents, in particular 2 families who moved from the North of France.
An exceptional exemption for this school year 2022-2023 has been granted for the 6 students. They join this Teaching Center for Deaf Youth in Ramonville. “It’s a relaxation confides Clémence Couture, one of the mothers who moved from Lille for her daughter. There was an extraordinary outpouring of solidarity with more than 100 people in front of the Toulouse rectorate on Thursday for the start of the school year: middle school students, high school students who sometimes reflected their return to school. The deaf community has been amazing.”
The children therefore joined the Jean-Jaurès school, which has the particularity of having 1 class per level, unlike other establishments which bring together deaf children from CP to CM2. “We left Lille for these reasons. It was out of the question for me that my daughter would end up in such an establishment, says Clémence Couture. We were on the waiting list and we were offered a school with a common class from CP to CM2, with Ukrainian deaf children even though they don’t have the same sign language at all. The mobilization paid off, we thank the APES which negotiated very well. We felt very supported even though we are not from the region.”
An emergency solution has been found. The Ramonville school will therefore have 62 students in 4 classes, whereas the establishment was originally planned to accommodate 36. A success and a model that should be reproduced in a neighboring school in Rangueil.
In a joint press release, the city of Ramonville, the Toulouse Academy and APES 31 (Association Parents of Deaf Children) specify: “work will be initiated in mid-September by the National Education, in conjunction with the APES, concerning the continued deployment of the second 1st degree device deployed in a neighboring municipality”.
Faced with the influx of requests, a second PEJS is opening in Rangueil (Toulouse) but it is not operational for the moment. The coordinator of the Jean Jaurès de Ramonville school works with the rectorate. During his visit to Toulouse in early September, the Minister of Education affirmed that this file had been discussed with the rector of the Toulouse academy.