Jean-Michel Blanquer once again at the heart of a controversy. According to information from Mediapart, the Minister of Education was on vacation in Ibiza when he revealed to the Parisian the new – and controversial – health protocol for schools, on the eve of the start of the new school year in January. The ministry confirmed that Jean-Michel Blanquer “worked remotely”.
As a reminder, the minister had unveiled the main lines of the new health protocol in this interview with Le Parisien on Sunday January 2, leaving only little time – barely half a day – for schools to organize themselves, which had accentuated the discontent teams in institutions. He actually did a video interview, “it’s nothing extraordinary,” the ministry told AFP on Monday evening. The minister was “in a private setting for 4 days of vacation”, “whether he was at a distance or not does not change anything”, added the ministry, recalling that ministers are authorized to go on vacation “up to two hours by plane from Paris”.
If he had been there, it wouldn’t have come out sooner
“The High Council for Public Health delivered its opinion on Sunday at 5 p.m., the protocol is decided in the general framework and it was then declined for schools”, the ministry was told to explain the short period of time between the announcements and the start of the school year. “If he had been there, it wouldn’t have come out sooner,” the ministry said.
The waltz of health protocols in schools in recent weeks has angered teachers, some of whom went on strike on January 13, a movement widely followed. Several unions have called for a new day of action for Thursday January 20, which could result in a new strike.
Blanquer’s resignation demanded by the opposition
Calls for resignation multiplied on Twitter following these revelations. The environmental candidate for the presidential Yannick Jadot was indignant at a “level of contempt and irresponsibility which is not acceptable”. He demanded the resignation of the minister.
“Even the health protocol has been relocated,” lamented LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis Clémentine Autain on Twitter. “When improvisation is born of a lie, trust is no longer possible,” launched the First Secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure.
The president of the Les Patriotes movement and presidential candidate Florian Philippot also called for the “immediate resignation” of Jean-Michel Blanquer. “The indecency of the holidays is sacred! “, quipped for his part the European deputy of the National Rally Gilbert Collard.