I see that the school
system in France operates like most places in the United States. The
amount of funding for a school is based on the number of pupils who
attend it. This means larger areas get the most money and the
smaller areas must deal with having less to run their school. A
small town in France was told one of its classes would be cut because
of declining enrollment in the local school. This idea did not go
over well with the residents of this small town. I have always
admired the efforts of French citizens to circumvent government
bureaucracy. When faced with the possibility of losing one of its
classes, this small French town didn't just accept it. They felt if
the government wants to see more students in the school, they would
provide for more students to be in their school. They enrolled sheep
in the school rather than have funding for a class taken away from
them. I wonder if the sheep were required to attend a cooking class
and learn about making leg of lamb? I'm sure the French school made
every effort to be sensitive to the sheep's cultural needs.
Below are excerpts from
the story with my valuable insights in italics.
Herder Michel Girerd, with
the help of his dog, escorted 50 sheep in tow on Tuesday, 15 of which
are now registered as students after showing their birth
certifications, according to Sky News.
Among the new students at
the Jules Ferry school include Baa-bete, Dolly, and Saute-Mouton.
I'm sure names such as
Saute-Mouton, Baa-bete as well as Dolly are family names. They have
probably been around in these sheep's families for years. I hope the
other kids in school don't make fun of them and their unusual names.
I can only imagine how
the registration interview process interview in this situation.
“Mr. Girerd, welcome
to our school. I understand you have some children you would like to
register.”
“I have 50 of them.”
“My, my, my you and
the wife have been busy.”
“They're adopted.”
“Oh, then you and
your wife are very special people. Is there anything we should know
about them before they are enrolled in our school?”
“They don't speak
French.”
“I'm sure we can
accommodate them. What language do they speak?”
“Sheep.”
“Is that a form of
French, that is not commonly used?”
“It is spoken any
place where there are sheep herders. It is very common among sheep
and that is why it is called sheep.”
“I see, I'm sure we
can find some way to communicate with them.”
“They have on wool
coats that can't be taken off. The coats must be shaved off. We
shave them at the beginning of every summer.”
“Ah, that is
fascinating I guess. I suppose if they want to leave their wool
coats on during class, it is okay.”
“They also have an
emotional support dog who stays with them.”
“I guess that's okay.
Exactly what does the emotional support dog do for them?”
“He makes sure they
get around and don't get lost. He also makes sure no wolves bother
them.”
“Oh.”
The school in Crêts en
Belledonne, a village in the Alps, was told that one of its 11
classes would be closed after numbers fell from 266 to 261.
A group of parents was
against the proposal to scale back the number of classes to 10, as it
would mean the average number of students in each class would rise
from 24 to 26, according to Sky News.
I suppose what is
inspiring here is how the parents found a way to keep the number of
children in each class low and provide a way to appreciate sheep. I
wonder what it would be like to be in the school cafeteria and be
behind a sheep in line. Would the sheep be upset if the school
served mutton stew for lunch? If the sheep ate it, I would be a bit
freaky to watch. I'm sure the playground would never be the same.
How could you play skins and shirts when the sheep can't take of
their shirts? They could only play on the shirts team and would all
do the same movement at the same time. They would probably be good
visual aids when learning to count in math class. I'm sure for fun
the school could watch the movie Babe to help develop their sheep
sensitivity.
"National education
is, unfortunately, only numbers," Gaelle Laval, one of the
parents behind the initiative, told Le Parisien newspaper. "And
so now, with this surge in numbers, we are good."
The mayor of the town,
Jean-Louis Maret supported the parent's efforts in recognizing the
sheep as students and hit at the government's “annoying threshold
logic” that prompted the threat of closure.
I'm not surprised the
mayor of the town supported the parent's efforts. Should the sheep
eventually be permitted to vote, I'm sure this mayor will have no
problem with reelection. It would change the politics in their town.
He would give a speech
and yell “Ba Ram Ewe, Ba Ram Ewe to your breed, your fleece, your
clan be true.”
I wonder if this could
start a move toward sheep education in France. I'm sure other sheep
in other parts of France will hear about this and demand they be
provided an education. Once sheep are firmly in place in the French
educational system, and the political world, all French politicians
will want their vote since they would vote like sheep. I'm sure in
school they are very good at avoiding trouble because they always act
like a bunch of sheep.
This is an interesting
story. I think it would make a great movie. If educated sheep are
hired to be in the movie, I wonder if they would demand to have a
fair wage for their work? Let's face it, France continues to be the
world's trendsetter.
Below is a link to the
story.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/sheep-france-school-enrollment-save-classes
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