Not all French classrooms can safely reopen Tuesday, the country’s education minister acknowledged Sunday, as a persistent rise in coronavirus infections jeopardizes the government’s push to get France’s 12.9 million schoolchildren back into class this week. Like many governments around the world, France and Britain want to reopen schools starting Tuesday to reduce the learning gaps between rich and poor students that were worsened by the virus lockdown this spring, and to get parents back to work and revive the ailing economy. With several thousand new infections now reported in France every day, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that some classes will remain closed when the nationwide reopening begins Tuesday, but “as few as possible.”
Not all French classrooms can safely reopen Tuesday, the country’s education minister acknowledged Sunday, as a persistent rise in coronavirus infections jeopardizes the government’s push to get France’s 12.9 million schoolchildren back into class this week. Like many governments around the world, France and Britain want to reopen schools starting Tuesday to reduce the learning gaps between rich and poor students that were worsened by the virus lockdown this spring, and to get parents back to work and revive the ailing economy. With several thousand new infections now reported in France every day, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that some classes will remain closed when the nationwide reopening begins Tuesday, but “as few as possible.”