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Day: 8 September 2023

Pleas to keep Menton beaches open rejected by French courts

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/09/2023

Menton’s seafront promenade is to have a €6 million makeover, but not all support the project, which has required the mandatory closure of its beaches since the end of August. Now the courts have had their say.  

Four owners of Menton private beach establishments came together under the banner of the Etablissements Balnéaires et des Usagers de la Riviera Française association to ask the Nice Administrative Court to postpone the closure of their beaches until mid-November.  

They argue that the obligatory closure at the end of August, as reported last month by Monaco Life, will cause significant loss of income by cutting short their potential earning period for the summer and autumn.  

On Thursday 7th September, the court rebuked their request, following an earlier hearing on Monday 4th September, putting the nail in the coffin for the hope of reprieve and perhaps even the future presence of the premises concerned.  

NEW PROBLEMS 

This hearing opened another can of worms, as it also determined that the establishments refusing to finance their part of the project, which is believed to be in the region of several hundreds of thousands of euros, could risk losing their spot on the beaches of Menton.  

In order for their concessions to be renewed, the beach operators of Menton must follow certain regulations, including paying the sums of money requested to pay for the infrastructure and new equipment of the project. 

A press release put out on Thursday 7th September by the mayor of Menton, Yves Juhel, stated that he was “delighted” by the ruling, “which confirms that the public service delegation procedure for the operation of Plage Sablettes was respected in all respects, as argued by the lawyer for the City of Menton”.  

The renovations to the seafront will begin on Monday 18th September. 

Read more about the situation here:

Why are Menton’s beaches closing down at the end of August?

 

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Photo source: Canmandawe, Unsplash

 

AS Monaco vice-president Juan Sartori elected to European Football Club Association Board

by: Luke Entwistle
08/09/2023
Ekaterina Rybolovleva, Prince Albert II and Juan Sartori at the inauguration of AS Monaco's Performance Centre

AS Monaco vice-president Juan Sartori has been elected to the European Football Club Association (ECA) board. 

Sartori was elected during the ECA’s 30th General Assembly, held in Berlin on Thursday 7th September. Each of the subdivisions, representing the 339 clubs from UEFA’s 55 member federations, elected their subdivision representative to the board.

Subdivision 1, which brings together associate members from Europe’s top six national-level associations (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and France), elected vice-president Sartori to the role.

ECA visited AS Monaco’s Performance centre in February

The ECA was founded in 2008 with the objective of safeguarding and promoting the interests of European football clubs, and during the Berlin General Assembly, women’s clubs were welcomed as members for the first time.

Back in February, the ECA held a two-day event at AS Monaco’s Performance Centre in La Turbie, bringing together 80 club representatives to exchange expertise in the field of youth development. During the visit, Pouya Yaghoubinia, Football Development Manager of the ECA spoke highly of the Principality club’s facilities, stating, “AS Monaco can be placed as the top performance centre, not just in France, but in Europe.”

 

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Left to right: Ekaterina Rybolovleva, Prince Albert II, Juan Sartori. Photo source: AS Monaco

Host of changes to come into effect this school year in Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/09/2023

As the new school year is officially set to begin on 11th September this year, some exciting new systems are being implemented in Monaco’s learning establishments.

The Principality’s General Commissioner in Charge of the Department of National Education, Youth and Sports (DENJS), Isabelle Bonnal, headed up a press conference on 5th September at the Lycée Rainier III and laid out what is to come this academic year.

The first change will be the actual school year and will affect everyone. The 2023-24 academic year will run from 11th September to 28th June, commencing a week later than previous years. Schools will close for four vacation periods and 10 bank holidays.

ASSESSMENTS FOR CE2

Next up is for kids in CE2. After a test programme carried out in two schools last year, the government has decided to implement national assessments at the end of CE2 and the deployment of mock examns in CE1 to prepare them.

As Bonnal explained, “This is an in-depth change in the vision that families, pupils and teachers may have of assessment, which does not reduce the child solely to the mark obtained but which is to help in understanding all the skills acquired or in progress that are one’s own.”

HIGH SCHOOLS

Just like in France, Monaco has opted to teach an hour and half of maths per week to high school students who are not taking mathematics as a core subject.

Additionally, higher accounting courses will now be available at the Ecole Rainer III rather than at Ecole Albert I.

First year high school students registered in the international section of school will now be following what is to be called the International French Baccalaureate system, and Albert I will offer physics and chemistry in English to students who wish to study them.

Physical Education, Sports Practices and Culture (EPPCS) has been added to options for high schoolers, with the minister calling it a way to “enable the acquisition of transversal skills such as self-confidence or stress management and the ability to address the many professional sectors of sport and sports practice.”

ONLINE AND ADMIN

School websites have all been revamped to be more “modern, with a more pleasant design, optimised navigation, harmonised content, easier searches, and important information more easily identifiable”.

Scholarship application deadlines have also been extended to the last Friday in September. Canteen allowance requests can be submitted until 15th November.

TRIBUTE TO PRINCE RAINIER III

This year, Monaco will continue to mark the centenery of the birth of Prince Rainier III in its education system.

On 1st July 2023, the Lycée Technique et Hôtelier de Monaco, founded by Prince Rainier III, became Lycée Rainier III.

Meanwhile, in tribute to the “visionary Prince”, funds collected during the 2023-2024 school year for the International Day of Children’s Rights will be entirely dedicated to the Preventorium of Madagascar and the sustainability of its operation, an institution founded by Prince Rainier III.

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Photo credit: Stéphane Dana, Government Communication Department

 

 

Honoria Crèche opens for parents in Moneghetti and Jardin Exotique districts

by: Cassandra Tanti
08/09/2023

On the morning of Monday 4th September, Monaco’s newest childcare facility, the Honoria Crèche, opened its doors to children aged up to three years.

Located on the ground floor of the Palais Honoria residence building, the new crèche replaces the Escorial structure and has 30 places available, primarily for Monegasque children and residents of the Moneghetti and Jardin Exotique districts.

The Honoria Crèche is part of a commitment made by the Municipal Council to offer more creche places to families in their geographical area.

Building family services

The Mairie de Monaco now manages a total of eight collective crèches, one family crèche, three micro-crèches and an activity garden as well as a Mini-Club open during the summer period.

It has a capacity of nearly 450 places in early childhood structures and 50 places at the Mini-Club.

Reception within municipal structures is reserved, as a priority, for children of Monegasque nationality and/or residents of the Principality.

 

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Photo source: Mairie de Monaco