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EDUCATION

LATEST: Where in France masks in primary schools are no longer mandatory

The majority of primary school children in France no longer need to wear masks in class, after the government expanded again the list of areas where masks are no longer obligatory as Covid case numbers continue to fall.

Published: 7 October 2021 08:59 CEST
Updated: 18 October 2021 09:08 CEST
More French schools are scrapping the mask rule
More French schools are scrapping the mask rule. Photo: Frederick Florin/AFP

The French government announced the lifting of the mask rule in 47 départements from October 4th, followed by another 21 départements from October 11th and 12 more from Monday, October 18th.

In total 79 of France’s 101 mainland and overseas départements will no longer have a classroom mask mandate for primary school children – but the département of Lozère has reintroduce the mask rule after a rise in the incidence rate.

The mask rule for children in primary schools can be lifted once départements have a stable incidence rate of less than 50 cases per 100,000 people.

Map of incidence rates in France, with areas of a rate lower than 50 per 100,000 people shown in green. Map: Covidtracker

Here are the areas affected;

Lifted mask rule from October 18th

Ain
Ariège
Charente
Cher
Drôme
Gard
Hérault
Moselle
Haut-Rhin
Var
Haute-Vienne
Seine-et-Marne

Lifted the rule on October 11th

Hautes-Alpes
Aube
Haute-Corse
Doubs
Eure-et-Loir
Haute-Garonne
Gironde
Ille-et-Vilaine
Lot
Lot-et-Garonne
Nord
Oise
Puy-de-Dôme
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Hautes-Pyrénées
Pyrénées-Orientales
Bas-Rhin
Savoie
Territoire de Belfort
and the overseas French territories of La Réunion and Mayotte

Lifted the rule on October 4th

Aisne, Allier, Ardennes, Aveyron, Calvados, Cantal, Charente-Maritime, Corrèze, Côte-d’Or, Côtes-d’Armor, Creuse, Deux-Sèvres, Dordogne, Eure, Finistère, Gers, Haute-Loire, Haute-Marne, Haute-Saône, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Isère, Landes, Loir-et-Cher, Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Loiret, Lozère (but will reimpose the rule on October 18th), Maine-et-Loire, Manche, Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Morbihan, Nièvre, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe, Seine-Maritime, Somme, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Vendée, Vienne, Vosges and Yonne.

The French government is also discussing the idea of scrapping the health passport in areas that have low incidence rates, or by sector, although this has so far not been confirmed.

Pupils at collège and lycée will continue to wear masks in class in all areas, while teachers are also obliged to continue wearing masks.

The education ministry is also running a trial on not sending home primary school pupils in classes where one pupil has tested positive, following a steady decline in reported cases in schools.

Classes in collège and lycée – where pupils are old enough to be vaccinated – already stay open after a positive test, with only the unvaccinated pupils sent home, while vaccinated youngsters continue to learn in the classroom.

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EDUCATION

Sweden’s Social Democrats call for ban on new free schools

Sweden's opposition Social Democrats have called for a total ban on the establishment of new profit-making free schools, in a sign the party may be toughening its policies on profit-making in the welfare sector.

Published: 18 April 2024 16:09 CEST
Sweden's Social Democrats call for ban on new free schools

“We want the state to slam on the emergency brakes and bring in a ban on establishing [new schools],” the party’s leader, Magdalena Andersson, said at a press conference.

“We think the Swedish people should be making the decisions on the Swedish school system, and not big school corporations whose main driver is making a profit.” 

Almost a fifth of pupils in Sweden attend one of the country’s 3,900 primary and secondary “free schools”, first introduced in the country in the early 1990s. 

Even though three quarters of the schools are run by private companies on a for-profit basis, they are 100 percent state funded, with schools given money for each pupil. 

This system has come in for criticism in recent years, with profit-making schools blamed for increasing segregation, contributing to declining educational standards and for grade inflation. 

In the run-up to the 2022 election, Andersson called for a ban on the companies being able to distribute profits to their owners in the form of dividends, calling for all profits to be reinvested in the school system.  

READ ALSO: Sweden’s pioneering for-profit ‘free schools’ under fire 

Andersson said that the new ban on establishing free schools could be achieved by extending a law banning the establishment of religious free schools, brought in while they were in power, to cover all free schools. 

“It’s possible to use that legislation as a base and so develop this new law quite rapidly,” Andersson said, adding that this law would be the first step along the way to a total ban on profit-making schools in Sweden. 

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