Against a further deterioration in working conditions for educational and psycho-social staff

The OGBL’s Education and Science Syndicate (SEW/OGBL) and the Association du Personnel des Centres de Compétence et de l’Agence : éducatif et psycho-social (APCCA) have recently sent comments on draft laws no. 8163 and no. 8169 to the Minister of National Education Claude Meisch and the members of the relevant parliamentary committee.

Draft law no. 8163 transposes the agreement between the MENJE and three CGFP member associations concluded in November 2021 regulating the task of educational and psycho-social staff (EPS), while draft law no. 8169 is akin to an omnibus law, making changes to the supervision of special needs pupils, whether at the level of basic education, secondary education or at the level of Centers of Competence.

It should be remembered that APCCA and SEW/OGBL were only informed of the November 2021 agreement through the press, even though they had been involved in all discussions in this context up to October 1, 2021, and had also defended a joint catalog of demands with CGFP. As the Ministry’s agreement with the CGFP was unsatisfactory, and faced with the Minister’s refusal to continue negotiations, APCCA and SEW/OGBL then appealed to the Public Service Conciliation Board. On June 28, 2022, well after the legal deadline of six weeks had elapsed and without any meeting having taken place, the president of the conciliation board nevertheless informed APCCA and SEW/OGBL that the dispute was inadmissible.

APCCA and SEW/OGBL contested this decision and lodged an annulment appeal with the Administrative Court. A decision in this case is still pending. It is rather bizarre, to say the least, that the government should nevertheless table a bill dealing with the central issue of the dispute – the organization of the work of EPS personnel – even before the Administrative Court has ruled on the validity of the dispute!

Organization of the work of EPS personnel

In their opinion on draft law no. 8163, APCCA and SEW/OGBL point out that the definition of tasks adopted is far from the realities on the ground. The quotas defined are ridiculously low, for example in terms of availability for parents or for consultation hours, compared with the time actually required. This will maintain a situation that amounts to unpaid overtime. For APCCA and SEW/OGBL, at least half an hour of preparation time per lesson should be set aside for EPS staff to ensure high-quality teaching for children and teenagers with special needs. It should be remembered that in public secondary education, one hour of teaching time is equivalent to two hours of work.

For diagnostic and advisory units, the draft law provides for a significant reduction in flexibility when it comes to taking leave, which constitutes a deterioration in working conditions and an attack on the acquired rights of the staff concerned.

Creation of additional supervisory structures

SEW/OGBL and APCCA do not wish to comment on all aspects of draft law no. 8169, but would like to criticize the draft’s general tendency to set up new superstructures to oversee existing structures. In their view, these structures do nothing to improve the quality of inclusive education work. On the contrary, the need to document and evaluate everything increases the amount of time teachers and educational and psychosocial staff have to devote to administrative tasks. Ultimately, this means less time available for taking care of the children.

A-EBS

Both draft laws provide for the introduction of a new function, namely the assistant for pupils with special educational needs (A-EBS). These assistants could be hired with a DAP or equivalent.

In their opinions, APCCA and SEW/OGBL are opposed to opening up the care of special needs pupils to less qualified staff. Children and teenagers with special needs need the best possible quality of care. Once again, this means selling off childcare for purely budgetary reasons, instead of tackling the reasons for the current staff shortage.

Press release by APCCA and SEW/OGBL,
April 20, 2023