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May 2011 - Issue 27
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Périgueux robberies prompt warning
Protests as 14 classes to be cut from schools Parents and teachers unite in fears over class overcrowding
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FOURTEEN schools across the Dordogne will lose a class next year as part of nationwide measures to reduce education costs. A series of protests by parents and teachers have been held in recent weeks against the cutbacks, which will mean the loss of 14 teaching posts, although their demands so far have only been met by one school in Sarlat. La Boëtie College, Aquitaine’s largest secondary school, has agreed to add an extra class to the school’s quatrième, or third year, at the start of the next school year. However, parents are still calling for a class to be added to the sixième, or first year after primary school. Martine Ginestet, the vice-president of the Sarlat branch of FCPE, the parents association, said that without the extra class there would be 28 pupils in each of the ten sixième classes. “That is too many,” she said.
Photo: © ArnaudLoth - Sud-Ouest
By JANE HANKS
Parents, teachers and children have held several protests against the cutbacks at schools across the Dordogne “All children suffer in such a situation, but particularly those who have difficulties in school and need extra attention in class, not less.” This view was echoed by teachers.
“Adding on an extra two children doesn’t sound much but it can make all the difference,” said Fanny Coinon, a maths teacher at the school. “We can’t easily give pupils individual
attention, which is badly needed by the less-able students, and those who are average can easily fall into the wrong side in an oversized class.” Parents are also Î Turn to Page 2
POLICE in Périgueux have warned business and homeowners to be extra vigilant following a spate of burglaries in the town. Bakeries have been the main target, with four stores recently being broken into within a week. While nothing was taken from the first break-in at a bakery in CoulounieixChamiers, burglars escaped with €90 from Lehoux bakery on rue Pierre-Semard the next day. Two more bakeries in the town were also hit: one in Fournil de la Cité, the other on the corner of rue Wilson and rue Thierst. Since early April, police have stepped up the surveillance of bakeries in the town. “There aren’t any miracles, unfortunately,” said a policeman at Périgueux station, who asked not to be named. “Business owners just need to be on guard, particularly at closing time or shortly before it. And don’t leave the till full of money, it’s commonsense really.” He played down fears of a drastic rise in break-ins, adding that the incidents were a “coincidence” and that “these aren't once a week events”. He continued: “We see these things happening during the year, it’s not frequent or seasonal. “Although we do see a slight rise in the theft of gardening equipment during the spring and summer seasons.” Meanwhile, there have been robberies at other businesses across the region, particularly Î Turn to Page 3