French schools reopen with new safety measures

France has opened schools nationally today following the pandemic, with new measures in place to provide a safe environment for students.

More than 12 million children returned to school on Tuesday with a difficult few months for education as the lockdown forced closures nationwide.

Commenting today about the reopening of the schools, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said that the government’s objectives were to return things “as normally as possible” albeit with new social distancing measures in place for teachers and students.

Parents were allowed to accompany younger children with strict enforcement procedures in place including social distancing and hand sanitisation.

Crucial to unlocking France’s economy, the reopening of schools is a big step forward despite a surge in recent infections.

The aim of the reopening for the government is to help students recover from months of missed lessons, with new scholastic evaluations to be performed. Students that struggle will be provided personalised programmes as part of a new national initiative to support their development in the wake of the pandemic.