The Ministry of National Education is making final decisions this week concerning the opening and closing of classes for the 2026 school year. Justified by a demographic decline, the elimination of 4,000 teaching positions in the public and private sector is leading to significant local restructuring. In certain departments such as the North or the Gard, the unions are warning of an increase in class closures and a reduction in the provision of optional education.
The next school year is being finalized in each department. This week, the services of the Ministry of National Education are deciding locally the number of positions to be eliminated and classes to close, based on the human resources allocated to them.
Nationally, 4,000 teaching positions should be eliminated, in the public and private sectors, due to the demographic decline. But certain academies are particularly affected and the unions are worried. According to them, this is unheard of for around fifteen years.
“Much more overcrowded classes…
In the 1st degree, job cuts inevitably lead to class closures and the Lille academy is very affected. Which means, according to the FSU-Snuipp union, that nearly 350 classes will be eliminated in the Nord department.
“We have schools that go from 4 to 3 classes, or even become single classes. This raises the question of the place of education in the villages. A kindergarten teacher will work with students from the very small section to CP. It will degrade the quality of service, it’s mathematical…, explains Alain Talleu, departmental co-secretary.
In the second level, the number of positions eliminated is lower. But in Gard for example, this represents one class less in one out of two colleges, according to Vincent Clavel, of the National Union of Colleges and High Schools:
“We are losing the equivalent of 25 classes in the department. We will end up with much more overcrowded classes.â€
Another consequence for the department according to this teacher: German will no longer be offered at the start of the school year to all students due to a lack of teachers.
