Paris: French primary school teachers’ main trade union has called for a strike here on Thursday. The union’s protest is against the government’s failure to protect staff and pupils from the third wave of COVID-19 infections that the country is passing through.
The government has taken pride in keeping schools open during most of the epidemic. With a few neighbouring countries shutting their schools for months at a time, the French government is coming under mounting pressure to act as cases soar.
“The (education) minister can congratulate himself that schools have stayed open … but at what price?!” the SNUipp-FSU said via a statement reported by news agency Reuters.
Paris and its outer areas will be affected by the strike, although no date has been given yet, said the union.
According to the latest government data published, 15,484 schoolchildren tested positive for COVID-19 in the preceding week, or 0.13 per cent of all pupils as on March 19.
ALSO READ: 22 Test COVID-19 Positive At IIM-Ahmedabad