Romain Rouillard
modified to
12:18 p.m., January 9, 2024
But where will Gabriel Attal’s meteoric rise end? The young 34-year-old minister, who this Monday became the First of them, brought down an honorary title, until then held by Laurent Fabius: that of the youngest head of government in the history of the Republic. An appointment to Matignon, which comes after days, even weeks of uncertainty at the top of the State, and which therefore comes to consecrate the rising star of Macronie. First Secretary of State, then government spokesperson and Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal had already reached a milestone last summer by obtaining the portfolio of National Education.
A ministry that he only led for six months, but in which his time did not leave many people indifferent. Only one month after his appointment, the young minister immediately put his feet in the problem by announcing, on August 27, the ban on the wearing of the abaya in schools. A long traditional dress covering the entire body, from the Gulf countries, which some consider to be an ostentatious religious sign, incompatible with respect for secularism.
“You enter a classroom, you should not be able to identify the religion of the students by looking at them”, then defended the young minister, on the set of TF1’s 8 p.m., determined to close a sensitive file which lingered and became more and more omnipresent in certain educational establishments where the number of reports multiplied. A measure validated a few days later, on September 7, by the Council of State.
School bullying, one of its priorities
Pumped up, the new tenant of rue de Grenelle then embarks on a second major project: that of school bullying. A scourge revived by the suicide of young Nicolas, 15, targeted in his high school in Poissy in the Yvelines, followed by that of Lucas, 13, also harassed in the Vosges. To deal with this, the young Minister of Education announced a battery of measures, including these famous empathy courses which must be tested from this Monday, January 8 in 1,000 establishments.
An idea coming from Denmark, but the precise implementation of which has not yet been revealed. Gabriel Attal, on the other hand, assured that in the event of proven harassment, it is now the student at fault, and not the victim, who will have to leave the establishment. Two measures to which are added the banning of cyberstalkers on social networks, the confiscation of their mobile phones and the creation of academic teams to combat harassment.
Through an addition in the decree validating the exclusion of harassing students and offering the possibility to the ministry to pronounce the dismissal of the student itself, Gabriel Attal has also discreetly given itself the possibility of excluding students radicalized. This scenario concerns situations in which the student would undermine the values of the Republic.
Raise the level of students
At the same time, Gabriel Attal is working on another issue: that of the overall level of students in college. In an interview with Le Parisien on November 13, the minister described the results of the assessments taken by 4th grade students in maths and French as “worrying”. An observation that the latest Pisa (International Program for Student Assessment) survey quickly corroborated. If France manages as best it can to stay within the average of OECD countries, the results of young French people in mathematics and reading comprehension, among others, are experiencing a worrying decline.
Enough to push Gabriel Attal, decidedly in the oven and at the mill, to send teachers a letter including a new series of measures supposed to “restore standards to schools”. Teachers will thus be able to “recommend, or even prescribe” successful courses during school holidays and level groups will also be created in 6th and 5th grade, for teaching maths and French. Furthermore, Gabriel Attal mentions his intention to “revisit the question of the taboo of repeating a grade”.
Three major issues, all-out announcements, all in the space of a few months, which allowed him to display a rather flattering popularity rating. At the beginning of December, according to an Ipsos poll, he simply took first place in the ranking of the French’s favorite policies, with 40% of favorable opinions. An action visibly appreciated by Emmanuel Macron who therefore entrusted him with the key to this new government, designed to relaunch his five-year term.