AESH civil servant status bill France, Digi Mart USA News (Pas-de-Calais, France): On Thursday, October 29, 2026, the French National Assembly adopted a bill creating a category B civil service corps for AESH, the accompagnants d’élèves en situation de handicap who support students with disabilities. The vote was 166 in favor, 16 against and 123 abstentions, and the text covers about 140,000 professionals in France.
The bill was filed in September 2026 by deputy Nadège Abomangoli and was examined during a parliamentary slot reserved for the La France insoumise group. It aims to lift these workers out of precarity by granting them a genuine status within the civil service.
In Pas-de-Calais, Christine Godart, an AESH in Béthune since September 2014, described the vote as a step forward. “It is a demand we have been pushing for a long time,” she said.
As a union representative for Snudi-FO 62, however, she remains cautious, noting that the concrete details of the reform are still unclear. “Colleagues call me to ask what will change.
For now, we don’t have all the answers.”
AESH are the second-largest profession within the national education system, yet they remain contract employees of the state, even when they hold a permanent contract. That status does not offer the same job security as civil servant positions.
“Even on a permanent contract, you can be dismissed if there is no longer a need,” Godart noted.
Amélie Vincenot, an AESH for two and a half years in Berck-sur-Mer and a union representative for FSU-SNUipp 62, said: “It is a fine job, but not under the conditions we deserve.” Creating a category B civil service corps would offer greater stability and real career progression. Pay remains a major concern: in 2023, these workers earned on average 1,030 euros net per month, according to Handicap.fr.
In 2024, 97.6% of them worked part-time.
The bill provides that the 24 weekly hours of support would become full-time positions. Unions also want recognition of tasks performed outside class time, such as preparation, exchanges with teachers and families, and meetings, which are essential to students’ follow-up but are often unrecognized by the state.
Currently, AESH hold contracts paid over 41 weeks, while students attend school for 36 weeks a year. The additional five weeks account in part for work done outside student presence and for training time.
Unions say this arrangement does not fully recognize their commitment or guarantee sufficient pay.
A key open question concerns how the status change would take place. The bill provides that AESH already in post as of September 1, 2026 would not need to pass a competitive exam, as new recruits would.
They would be appointed as trainee civil servants for one year, with alternating training and a mentoring system.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray has expressed reservations about these arrangements. While he supports the gradual civil servant status of AESH, he disputes the one-year training measure.
Speaking during the reading at the National Assembly, he said that adopting such a mechanical measure would cut student support capacity by 50% in the first year, and that following that logic would mechanically require recruiting about 70,000 people for one year to offset staff leaving for initial training.
The Senate is the next decisive step. A similar bill was rejected by senators in January 2026, which is why AESH have reasons for caution.
Unions continue to press their demands, including civil servant category B status, full-time 24-hour positions, the end of PAS and PIAL arrangements, specialized teacher posts and places in specialized medical-social facilities. A national strike and mobilization day is scheduled for Thursday, November 5.
