“School inclusion is a great idea. But this is not possible for all children. » This observation became clear to Cécile and François Lacoste. These Girondin parents tried everything to ensure that their son Louis followed an “ordinary” schooling despite his severe epileptic syndrome and its neurological consequences. But they came up against the reality principle. Having dropped out, exhausted by his nocturnal attacks, the child had ended up banging against the walls, in the hope of breaking a limb to be excused from school. Louis no longer smiled, his parents knocked on every door to find a solution more suited to his health. “Places in specialized institutes are expensive,” explains Cécile.
After five years of fighting, they finally won the Holy Grail: integration into the medical-pedagogical institute (IMP) of Eysines. “It changed our life,” smiles Cécile. Louis found a smile again and the desire to get up in the morning. He is “unrecognizable”. “He speaks better, he is more independent,” describe his parents. Happiness found thanks to expert support: at the IMP, students can follow their medical care on site (occupational therapy, psychologist, speech therapist, etc.), take a nap if they need it, and be assisted by the nurse in the event of an epileptic attack. “He is good, and we feel supported. » Finally, these parents can breathe. “We know other families who were not as lucky as their disabled child. There should be more space,” lament the Lacostes.
Reinforced resources
This is the flip side of educational inclusion, a policy advocating the retention of all students in “ordinary” education, regardless of their “special needs”. Inclusion is a right enshrined in the law of February 11, 2005, which provides for “compensation” for disability. Twenty years later, National Education is striving to strengthen support, announcing for this year 2025-2026 the deployment of an enriched program with the creation of 500 education support centers (PAS) and 75 new devices for neurodevelopmental disorders.
“For many children with disabilities, regular school is not suitable”
Within the academic region, this policy results in the establishment of ten education support centers, responsible for coordinating support and deploying a teacher training plan. The territory also has 529 localized unit classes for educational inclusion (Ulis) and six classes dedicated to autistic students.
While teaching unions are concerned about the implementation of these PAS and the resources that will be allocated to them in terms of training or specialized educators, the needs are growing. According to a recent report from the Court of Auditors on educational inclusion, the number of disabled students in mainstream education tripled between 2006 and 2022. In 2024, more than 513,000 disabled children were in school. The report points out the weaknesses of the system, such as the lack of space in medico-social institutes.
On the ground, suffering
Should we move away from “all inclusive”? This is one of the questions asked, in an information mission in 2023, by Alexandre Portier, municipal councilor of Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône), and Servane Hugues, then Renaissance deputy for Isère, former school teacher and mother of two disabled children. Their conclusions: in the current state of the system, “for many children with disabilities, ordinary school is not suitable”. They advocate “an inclusion in the plural”, tailor-made.
“The right to support must be respected, notifications implemented”
On the ground, these flaws translate into suffering. That of children but also of teachers. “Especially in primary school,” says Emmanuel Ruellan, academic secretary of the SGEN-CFDT union. “In front of the class, which on average has two to three students with special needs, the teacher is alone, often helpless,” supports the union leader, who recently intervened to the aid of a colleague bitten by a student in crisis…
A dismay relayed by heads of Catholic education establishments at the Bordeaux academy, who launched “a cry of warning” in an open letter. They denounce “the untenable situation in which many children with disabilities find themselves. Despite the notification of human assistance of the type accompanying students with disabilities (AESH), many of them cannot benefit from it due to lack of sufficient resources,” they write. “Here are establishments which have 53 notifications of human assistance for 14 AESH, some of whom have been absent for months. » They conclude: “The right to support must be respected, notifications implemented, AESH replaced and in sufficient number. We refuse to normalize the unacceptable. »
