The problems in the suburbs of France, social inequality, have long been an ongoing issue. An article in Current Concerns No 17 from 15 August 2023 puts the role of the school in the foreground. Many thanks for doing this.
Public schools fail to give the young French people the tools for life, therefore they are defenceless against all those masterminds. The article shows in a moving way, how cordially an engaged teacher, in opposition to the authorities and school colleagues, is involved in educating these underprivileged children in a realistic way and gives them a perspective of success! And this of all things occurs in the Greek lessons! Why? “The old texts motivate us [...] to reflect.” The quoted voices of the students are the impressive proof of this.
As reader, who herself had the pleasure of learning the ancient languages, I can confirm that I too have learned a great deal for life. The ability to analyse texts has opened up for example many different fields of voluntary employment.
In addition, even in Switzerland, in schools which like in France more and more useful ideas are included to provide an opposing voice: the private initiative of young people who are engaged for the maintenance of the Latin language – the “Swiss Latin days”. It is worth looking at their website and recommending it to others.
Renate Dünki, Oberwangen (TG)
Our website uses cookies so that we can continually improve the page and provide you with an optimized visitor experience. If you continue reading this website, you agree to the use of cookies. Further information regarding cookies can be found in the data protection note.
If you want to prevent the setting of cookies (for example, Google Analytics), you can set this up by using this browser add-on.