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SCHOOLS

What are the new testing and isolation rules for French schoolchildren?

France has introduced a new Covid protocol in its schools, which will see testing ramped up significantly. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 28 December 2021 09:07 CET
Updated: 3 January 2022 10:11 CET
French primary school children will soon need to take multiple Covid tests if a classmate tests positive.
French primary school children will soon need to take multiple Covid tests if a classmate tests positive. (Photo by PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP)

12 million pupils return to school on Monday amidst soaring Covid cases across France. 

The government has introduced a new Covid protocol in its schools which will see a change to self-isolation and testing rules. 

The Education Minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, said that the aim was to “ensure the protection of pupils and staff.”

Here’s what you need to know: 

Pupils over 12-years old and staff

Staff and pupils over 12-years-old must follow different procedures according to vaccination status. 

If they test positive but are fully vaccinated, they must self isolate for seven days. This can be reduced to a five day quarantine should a negative PCR or antigen test be carried out on the 5th day and if the person has been asymptomatic for 48 hours. 

If they test positive but are not fully vaccinated, they must self isolate for ten days. This can be reduced to a seven day quarantine should a negative PCR or antigen test be carried out on the 7th day. 

If they are a contact case but fully vaccinated, there are no self-isolation requirements and they can continue going to school. They must however complete self-tests on Day 2 and Day 4 (following the moment they realised they came into contact with someone infected with Covid). 

If they are a contact case but not fully vaccinated, they must self-isolate for seven days and take a PCR or antigen test on the 7th day. 

Pupils under 12-years-old 

No matter their vaccinations status, children under 12 must isolate for at least seven days if they test positive. They can leave on day five if they test negative via a PCR or antigen test and have not had any symptoms of 48 hours. 

Children under 12 must take a PCR test or antigen test immediately after realising that they are a contact case. Providing they test negative, self-tests must then be completed on Day 2 and Day 4. 

For contact case children, parents must sign an attestation sur l’honneur, stating that they have had all the necessary tests before they can return to school. You can download a template form here. 

The incidence of Covid among 5-11 year olds has exploded by a factor of 12 over the course of a month. Dozens of children are currently in intensive care after falling ill with Covid, but compared to other illnesses like gastroenteritis and bronchitis, Covid has taken a relatively small toll on this age group. 

Other measures 

Last month, Blanquer said that the government had made €20 million available for schools to install CO2 captors in schools, which allow education authorities to judge whether there is a sufficient aeration in classrooms to prevent the spread of Covid. 

France’s Scientific Council is concerned that up to a third of teachers will be off from work by the end of January due to soaring Covid cases. Blanquer said that the government is trying to ensure that recently retired teachers can be called back into service to fill the gap. 

The minister insisted that school exams would go ahead as usual and that there would not be capacity limits in exam halls and amphitheatres. 

France made all 5-11 year olds eligible for vaccination last week. 

Schools will start the new term as planned on Monday, January 3rd.

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CRIME

French teen girl badly hurt in beating outside school

The French government has launched an investigation after a 14-year-old girl was left comatose after being beaten outside her school by three other teenagers in the south of France.

Published: 5 April 2024 08:45 CEST
French teen girl badly hurt in beating outside school

The three alleged attackers, including a girl who was at the same school as the victim in the Montpellier suburbs, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a minor.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions around French schools after dozens of messages threatening attacks were sent through an internal messaging system.

The victim, named as Samara, who now come out of her coma, was “seriously wounded” in the attack on Tuesday afternoon outside the Arthur Rimbaud college in the La Mosson-La Paillade district.

One of the accused is a girl from the same school, also 14, who was arrested on Wednesday and admits to having beaten the victim, Montpellier prosecutors said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The two other minors arrested are aged 14 and 15.

Education Minister Nicole Belloubet ordered an investigation by inspectors from her ministry who have eight working days starting from Friday to report back on the circumstances surrounding the attack.

“This mission will aim both to establish the reality of the facts and to establish responsibilities,” she told BFMTV, adding that Samara was owed “the truth”.

Her mother, Hassiba, has said in media interviews that her daughter had been bullied by a fellow pupil for two-and-a-half years, raising the possibility this could have been over her behaviour and clothing being deemed un-Islamic.

“I don’t actually understand this child’s reasons for constantly attacking Samara, but there is something. I think it’s… the fact that she (Samara)… is maybe a little more liberated than some students,” she told BFMTV.

She accused this classmate of being the “sponsor” of the attack and claimed that this schoolgirl had been suspended for two days in June 2023, in particular after having published a photo of her daughter on social networks, calling for her to be raped.

But outside the school, a student who did not wish to be named said she thought what had happened, “had nothing to do with a certain way of dressing”.

She said the other girl accused Samara of posting a photo of her with an insult on social media.

Four other pupils were also convinced clothes had nothing to do with it, and repeated the same story.

President Emmanuel Macron in televised comments expressed “solidarity” with the girl who was attacked but urged caution in drawing conclusions about the circumstances of the attack.

“At this stage I would be wary of categorising things,” he said. “I want the full truth to be established… and the conclusions to be drawn then.”

In a separate incident, a 15-year-old boy has died following an assault outside a collège in Viry-Châtillon, Essonne, on Thursday, officials have said.

“An investigation has been opened into the charges of assassination and violence in meetings near a school,” a statement from authorities said.

The pupil, who lived about 100m from the collège Les Sablons was subjected to a group assault on his way home following a music lesson.

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