Hundreds of alleged cases of physical and sexual assault against children in French nurseries and elementary schools have revealed flaws in the system, experts say. They argue that reforms are urgently needed.
https://p.dw.com/p/5G8xYSeveral court cases about alleged abuse cases are currently underway in FranceImage: Ute Grabowsky/photothek/picture allianceAdvertisementA series of alleged cases of sexual and physical assault is shining a light on fundamental problems in France's nursery and junior school system. Politicians have promised reform — but experts say their plans don't go far enough.
Ever since April 8, 2026, Charlotte, who doesn't want her real name revealed to protect her son's identity, feels like she's cut off from her emotions.
That day, her 4-year-old son told her that a teaching assistant, called Ryan, had sexually assaulted him. At his elementary school Gustave Bienvetu in the Parisian suburb of Colombes.
"At first, I thought I had misunderstood — it seemed unimaginable that this should happen to my son. When it finally sunk in, it felt like the heavens were falling down on me," she told DW.
Charlotte and her husband alerted the school and town hall to the events. The teaching assistant was almost instantly suspended.
But other measures weren't put in place swiftly enough, Charlotte said.
"According to the law, the mayor's office should have immediately alerted the prosecutor but it only did so two weeks later," she said, adding that other families at the school should have also been informed quickly.
"When this didn't happen, we pressed charges for sexual assault and told other parents about what had occurred," Charlotte said.
Two other families lodged complaints against Ryan: one for exhibitionism, as their son allegedly witnessed the scene with Charlotte's son. A second child also reported being sexually assaulted by the teaching assistant.
The town hall has refuted Charlotte's allegations. "The prosecutor was alerted after an incompressible time span needed for the drafting of a report that had to be written in a just and precise manner," the mayor's office wrote in an email to DW, adding that support was provided to the affected families.
But Anne, the co-founder of SOS Periscolaires, a collective that's taking stock of reports of physical and sexual molestation of children in nurseries and junior schools, said authorities across France are often slow to react. Her public sector job prohibits her from revealing her last name.
"It's a recurring pattern that we've seen in many of the more than 500 cases of sexual or physical violence we've registered since our foundation in 2021," she told DW.
Anne thinks France's teaching assistant sector has become a playground for predators, as it's very easy to get employed there.
"Non-teaching staff are managed by the town hall or an external company. In the latter case, which we think makes up about 40%, playground assistants don't need to be trained and their criminal background doesn't have to be checked," she explained.
She added that pay was so low, it was difficult to attract qualified personnel.
Jean-Michel Bocquet, a lecturer for educational science at the University Sorbonne Paris Nord and the Catholic University of Paris, said things were hardly better when the town hall was in charge.
"Teaching assistants then just have to do a four-week training which was initially intended for summer camp assistants," he told DW.
"In any case, according to our research, the preferred profile for the job is a man with authority and humor instead of an empathetic woman. That increases the chance of recruiting sexual predators," Bocquet said.
Jerome Camus, a sociologist at the University of Tours in central France, said the situation has got gradually worse.
"A 2013 school reform shortened school days and prolonged non-teaching periods, so that we now need 2 million teaching assistants instead of 1 million," he explained.
"Plus, up until the 1980s, school leisure times were supposed to give children access to cultural activities — they were thought of as a space for freedom. Nowadays, non-teaching staff only has to monitor children — which means they hardly need to be qualified."
Mistreatment by teaching assistants only attracted widespread public attention in September 2025, after the first cases came to light in Paris, where many media organizations are based.
The Paris prosecutor's office told DW that the number of reports of molestation by non-teaching staff across Paris had risen swiftly since then and now reached more than 100.
Several court cases are now underway. SOS Periscolaires knows of at least 70 formal complaints against teaching assistants across the country.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, newly elected in March, recently confirmed more than 130 playground assistants had been suspended since the start of this year, 52 of them for alleged sexual assault. Gregoire also announced a €20-million action plan including a thorough audit of the current system, better training and background checks for non-teaching staff, a more efficient alert system and better support for concerned families.
On a national level, a number of draft laws are going or will soon go through parliament that mostly focus on strengthening background checks.
"Staff working with children should be checked through a national register that shows if they have been found guilty of mistreating children or if an investigation has at one point been opened against them," Sylvain Maillard, a parliamentarian for government party Renaissance, told DW.
But lecturer Bocquet doubts the measures will be far-reaching enough.
"Even the Parisian plan is too vague. Non-teaching staff need thorough qualifications so that they can detect when their colleagues are showing inappropriate tendencies," he emphasized. adding that extensive training programs should be put in place on a nationwide level.
"And we should create a dedicated safe space in each institution where children can speak out."
Charlotte is meanwhile calling for a nationwide overhaul of the system.
"Teaching assistants should be paid correctly and always have to work in twos when guarding children. Authorities should also install cameras in school corridors to supervise what's happening," she said.
"And parents should be better informed about how to detect possible signs of abuse," Charlotte added.
The case of her 4-year-old son is likely to be heard in the coming months.
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