FIFTEEN sheep have been enrolled at a French primary school in order to boost numbers and prevent a class from shutting down due to a lack of pupils.
The school in Crets en Belledonne, a village at the foot of the French Alps was told it would have to close one of its 11 classes after the number of pupils attending the school dropped.
A local sheep farmer Michel Girerd was on hand with a solution though as he arrived at the school with his dog and some 50 sheep, and officially registered 15 of them in order to keep the class afloat.
Among those enrolled were sheep named “Baa-Bete” and ‘Saute-Mouton” as parents and children gathered at the gates of the school.
“Now we won’t have to close any classes” beamed Gaelle Laval, one of the parents who helped organise the move.
He went on to say that they wanted to use humour to mobilise people to tackle what he described as a “miserable situation”.
“National education is unfortunately only numbers, and so now with this surge in numbers, we are good,” he added.
“We can go and see the director of the academy to assert our rights and save our class.”
Present at the stunt was local mayor Jean-Louis Maret who used the to question the logic of class closures and stress the importance of allowing children access to full education.
Footage of the ‘new pewepils’ entering the school is below.
(I promised myself no sheep puns - I couldn't resist, I'm sorry)
15 moutons inscrits à l’école de Crêts en Belledonne contre la fermeture d’une classe et 65 dans la cour de récré.
(Shaun 🐏 va en CM2 ! ) @bleu_isere https://t.co/YaPHoIvR6X pic.twitter.com/KxAv2B7oJ5— Valentine Letesse (@valentineletess) May 7, 2019