by Ric Erickson

Paris:- Saturday, 14. September 1996:- The darn 'Rentrée' - the return to school - will not go away. This is also a personal trial for me, but I don't want to write about it because ours is a special case, and our problems are not the ones the newspapers are writing about.

The weather went grey and it is cool and tans are fading fast, and doctor's offices are full of people seeking tranquilizers plus the doctors are making a lot of house calls to fix up the kids that have 'caught something' from their comrades. No weatherman is necessary to predict all this. Lesser degrees of it happen after all the mid-term holidays too.

School canteen food is no good, and some parents can't afford it anyway. I know, I put in a 'menu' [Diary 129] for a day last week - but only the desert was reported as eaten.

At some schools the teachers are on strike and at other schools the auxiliary teachers are on strike - plus there are a lot of unemployed of both categories. Classes are too big and some schools lack enough classrooms. Other schools lack teachers. Professors are depressed. 56 percent of students are tired.

I gather all this from just reading the headlines - does anybody want me to provide details? I remember reading the same headlines a year ago. There's more, of course; the universities have not re-opened yet and when they do, the headlines will continue, some with true horror stories.

The solution, clearly, is to have the 'Rentrée' at the end of the school year instead of the beginning, so that as soon as everything is more or less working smoothly, everybody can go on holidays and have a rest.

Can Pierre Read or Write?

The general populace considers that the highest intellectual attainment in France, is to be able to read, write and speak correctly in French. Speaking French with a bit of flair is considered to be showing off, so nobody tries for this much, except a few comedians.

For some reason, despite this generally accepted idea, about nine percent of students entering the equivalent of grade six, can not do it, and 34.7 percent know only the barest fundamentals. This is the reason that the Minister of Education, François Bayrou, has announced at the beginning of the Rentrée that priority will be placed on French, beginning in grade one.

However an expert linguist, suggests that more emphasis should be placed on language - earlier, in kindergarten - and that remedies, if necessary, commence in grade one. An official report about the problem is expected in December and meanwhile, schools continues to turn out illiterates.

Bumpy Skies in France

Air France Europe, which used to be Air-Inter, has a security-conscious pilot. He does not like stuff being put into the holds of aircraft he flies, without being checked first. Passengers' hand baggage is routinely checked, but not suitcases and freight. Pilot Louis Le Baraillec asked for the contents of the hold of his Airbus to be checked on Thursday, before taking off from Biarritz and was refused. He offered to transport the passengers, without the contents of the hold and his offer was refused.

The passengers took the next flight and Le Baraillec had to buy a ticket in order to fly to Orly to get his plane back,which had been flown there - presumably empty - by two management pilots.

Le Parisien asked him about holding up 35 flights in the past year and he said he systematically requests that his holds be checked - but until now this has only resulted in delays.

He said he does it because he is the captain of the craft he flies. He called into question the security measures at French airports and pointed out that passengers pay a tax of 11 francs on every ticket, which is supposed to finance airport security.

The non-flight of Mr. Le Baraillec resulted in a vast number of non-departs at Orly Thursday morning, as other pilots sided with Mr. Le Baraillec. A stranded British passenger was annoyed, but even more surprise to learn that hold baggage was not X-rayed. Four flight personnel unions have in the meantime issued strike warnings.