Toulouse: the showdown between parents who defend family education and the rectorate
Several families gather, Monday, October 17 in front of the rectorate of Toulouse, to defend the right to educate their child at home despite the law of 2021 which sets a strict framework.
The Toulouse academy, which this year authorized 3,217 requests (out of a total of 3,731) for home instruction, has not quite settled the question of the twenty or so families who are filing appeals against appeals before the Administrative Court of Toulouse to win the case.
Of the 3,731 requests made at the start of the school year, 86% were accepted. Of the 314 requests which concerned ground 4 of the 2021 law: 288 requests were refused by the academy, 97 appeals were filed, 80 were rejected by the administrative court of Toulouse, “and therefore favorable to the administration “, notes the rectorate. The administration indicates that 17 appeals were the subject of a “suspension of the administration’s decision”.
A growing phenomenon
The phenomenon of school at home is however in full swing, had noted at the start of the school year in September the rector of the academy of Toulouse Mostafa Fourar. The period of confinement and educational continuity could be one of the reasons that motivate couples to choose home education rather than school.
However, since the law of August 24, 2021 confirming compliance with the principles of the Republic, authorizations are subject to four criteria: 1. The child’s state of health or disability; 2. The practice of intensive sports or artistic activities; 3. The homelessness of the family in France or the geographical distance from any public school establishment.
The criterion who is angry
And finally the fourth criterion which establishes a vague concept and which allows families to take legal action: “The existence of a situation specific to the child motivating the educational project, provided that the persons responsible for it justify the ability of the person(s) responsible for educating the child to ensure education in the family while respecting the best interests of the child”.
“The first formal notices have been sent”
On this point, the collective “Nonsco’llectif”, which calls for a rally in front of the rectorate, believes that the law goes too far. “The first formal notices were submitted to families who had decided not to submit to the new law which had changed family education from a declaratory regime to an authorization regime,” declare the militant families. The collective believes that the rector “does not seem to want to hear his arguments”.
According to the defenders of the IEF, “among the families under pressure from the administration, many have been practicing home education for a long time, with positive controls from the academic inspection”.
Inspector posts created
The rectorate of Toulouse takes the question seriously in any case. A senior academy inspector post (IA-IPR) and three national education inspector posts (IEN) were created at the start of the school year. “Each request for authorization from IEF has, each time, the subject of an individual analysis of the situation”, we are assured at the rectorate.
Who are the defenders of the IEF?
It was the first refusals by the Toulouse academy to authorize certain families in the region to practice family education (IEF) which motivated the creation of NonSco’llectif, explains spokesperson Karène Arfaoui. “Originally, she explains, it was a group of Tarn families but which defends, at the national level, the repeal of article 49 of the law on separatism”, entitled by the government “law of August 24, 2021 confirming respect for the principles of the Republic”. “The other collectives in the region were also founded in the urgency of the situation,” adds Karène Arfaoui. We work together. We wanted a collegial operation, which is not the case in the regional and national associations. All of our decisions are taken collectively with the members of the collective and our supporters. »