The finance committee of the National Assembly is examining a report titled relating to lost teaching hours in the National Education system, prepared by deputy Anthony Boulogne from the Rassemblement national party. The report, reviewed by the LCP news channel on Tuesday, September 29, criticizes the government for having "inadequate statistical mechanisms" and "insufficient responses" to the issue of missing teaching hours. It suggests several measures to address the problem, which it claims has significant implications for the quality of education in France. According to the report, during the 2024-2025 school year, 20 million teaching hours were not delivered in public middle and high schools. Boulogne, who represents the Meurthe-et-Moselle region, points out that there are no official statistics on lost teaching hours in the first degree (elementary schools), which limits the ability of public officials and the Ministry of National Education to fully understand the scope of the issue. He argues that the lack of replacement for teaching hours undermines the right to education, a principle outlined in article L. 111-1 of the French education code. The deputy highlights the disparity in teacher replacement rates. For the first degree, the replacement rate for both short and long-term absences is less than 80%, while in the second degree (middle and high schools), the replacement rate for long-term absences is over 94%, but it drops to less than 12% for short-term absences. Boulogne also notes that the "teacher's pact," introduced at the start of the 2023 school year, has not resolved these challenges. He estimates the total cost of teacher replacements to be 4.5 billion euros, with results that he considers disappointing. The report also provides context on teacher absences. It states that the average number of days teachers are absent due to health reasons is 8.2 per year, which is lower than the 8.8 days for the public sector and 10.6 days for the private sector. Other types of absences include time taken for continuing education and other personal or professional reasons. In his 50-page report, Boulogne proposes nine recommendations aimed at improving the French replacement system. These include expanding the annual survey Unaccounted Teaching Time for Students, conducted by the Direction of Evaluation, Prospection, and Performance (DEPP) of the Ministry of National Education, to cover the first degree and distinguish between short-term and long-term absences. He also suggests that DEPP conduct a study on the relationship between the quality of working conditions for teachers and their absence rates. Boulogne calls for making the teaching profession more attractive, suggesting that the declining number of students could be used to increase the size of replacement teams in the first degree or to expand the staff of occupational medicine within the Ministry of National Education. He also supports the idea of "rehabilitating the figure of the schoolmaster" and enhancing the authority of teachers in schools, which he believes is essential for improving the school environment. He advocates for stronger sanctions against disruptive students and their parents, arguing that temporary government measures will not be enough to attract young people to a profession with deteriorating working conditions.