Day: 5 September 2016

Ms Isabelle Bonnal, Director of the Department of Education, Youth and Sport, confirmed during Monday morning’s press conference at the start of the new academic year that the total number of pupils enrolled in the Principality’s schools is up by 46 on last year’s figures, with, as of September 2, 2016, 4580 in the public school system and 1303 in the private school.
Ms Bonnal assured the audience that both systems enjoy the “same quality of teaching” from Monaco’s 813 teachers.
Students will have 148 vacation days this year, 72 which make up summer holidays, 14 days more than the Academy of Nice.
Three new schools are planned for the coming years, with “Operation Stella”, a kindergarten (maternelle) in the Condamine, opening in September 2018, the Collège Lycée FANB (middle school/high school) scheduled for end of that same year or beginning of 2019, and the first stone being laid in October for a new college Charles III, on the west side of the Principality due to open around 2020/2021.
During the major renovation work on Stade Louis II after 30 years of “loyal service”, access will continue for schools’ physical education lessons, assured Ms Bonnal. She also highlighted that intensive English and European studies will be maintained within the curriculum, insisting that language learning is a priority, with a particular emphasis on oral practice.
World Art Day (April 15), Canada Celebrates 150 (a week of Canadian food in conjunction with the Lycée Technique et Hotelier Monaco) and an Electric Bike assignment are a few of the projects lined up across the year to engage students culturally. The annual Christmas Charity Show involving students from 3me to 6me at Collège Charles III, will be held on January 20, 2017. On the sports side, a Monegasque delegation of four students will participate in the Francophonie Games 2017 in the Ivory Coast (July 21-30) and a weekly yoga class will be introduced in primary schools, led by a qualified Monegasque yoga instructor.
The question of security was raised at the end of the conference, as police officers were present at schools last week in Nice, where classes start a week earlier. Ms Bonnal quickly reminded the room that security has always been a priority in Monaco schools, and that pupils are met by a school official at the entrance of the building. Cars can no longer park outside a school to drop off, even for a minute, and each school has a “police reference”, a direct dial number to ensure the quickest response time in case of an emergency.
With a 100 percent success rate at the Baccalaureate last year, including 64 “très bien” honours, the department emphasised it will continue to assist students in their academic journey, and has the necessary tools in place, including 210 new tablets to help teach math, for the 2016-17 school year.
 
 
 
 

Regional trains serving Monaco Monte-Carlo are frequently subject to long delays, strikes and cancellations, but on Monday a new source of disruption was added to the list – migrants on the tracks.
French train operator SNCF said that migrants on the line just short of the Monaco tunnel had forced drivers to slow down, causing delays of several minutes.
READ MORE: SNCF to compensate pass holders

Nicolas Sarkozy should face trial along with aides on charges that his unsuccessful re-election campaign four years ago received illegal funding, French prosecutors reportedly recommended on Monday.
The move is a major blow to the former French president’s hopes to run for re-election next year just days after he announced his decision to join the race, the UK’s Daily Telegraph reports.
Mr Sarkozy, whose book, “All for France”, released end of August, topped the Best Sellers List after selling 32,000 copies within the first three days, was already under formal investigation in the affair, and prosecutors feel there is sufficient evidence against him and 13 other party members, for the case to go to trial. Investigating magistrates now have one month to make the final decision on whether the case should come to court, meaning their ruling could come just days before presidential primaries of Mr Sarkozy’s Republicans party, held on November 20 and 27.
The case initially centred on allegations that false bills via an events company called Bygmalion amounting to €18 million were used to mask the fact that Mr Sarkozy’s party – then called the UMP – had massively surpassed campaign spending limits in 2012. The inquiry then widened last October to include another €13.5 million. Illegal party funding carries a maximum prison sentence of a year and a €3750 fine.
In France, campaign spending limits for the 2012 presidential election were €22.5million, a figure his party is accused of vastly surpassing.

President Hollande will render homage to “all the victims of terrorism” on September 19 at les Invalides in Paris, the Secretary of State charged with helping victims and their families, Juliette Méadel, has announced in Nice.
She added that it is absolutely necessary to honour the victims, which is a global act of homage and remembrance. The chosen date marks an atrocity in 1989, when a French DC-10 of the UTA airline exploded in mid-air on a flight from Brazzaville to Paris, killing 170 people, including 54 French nationals.
Ms Méadel was in Nice to meet families of the 86 victims of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais on July 14.
Some 85 people remain in hospital since Bastille Day.