Alexandre Chauveau / Photo credit: Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP
The redesign expected for several days has finally become reality. If the departures are numerous, the newcomers have the opportunity to make themselves known to the general public and to take on an important role within the government. But among the rising stars, the young macronist Gabriel Attal who succeeds Pap Ndiaye as Minister of National Education.
The official press release from the Elysée fell at 7:40 p.m. Thursday evening, but the secret had been revealed long before. The reshuffle of the government, expected for several days, occurred gradually over the afternoon and evening. It was the ministers themselves or their entourage who informed the press throughout the day, something never seen before for a reshuffle.
Among the most emblematic departures: that of Pap Ndiaye at Education, replaced by Gabriel Attal. At 34, the rising star of Macronie benefits from a new promotion. Because it is already his third ministry since 2018. The one Jean Castex nicknamed “the young Gabriel” therefore takes the head of a bloated administration: 850,000 teachers and 1.2 million civil servants. But it is also a ministry in crisis: lack of vocations among teachers, religious entryism at school and a continuous decline in the level of students.
Back to basics
So, faced with these challenges, Gabriel Attal should once again embody a change of line on rue de Grenelle. He thus intends to return to the fundamentals, as he indicated Thursday evening during his transfer of power with Pap Ndiaye. “After what the country went through at the beginning of July, we have to go back to simple things, respect for the professor and his authority, mastery of fundamental knowledge, respect for secularism. While we are all, you said it (note: speaking to Pap Ndiaye) still so painfully bruised by the assassination of Samuel Paty, “said the young 34-year-old macronist.
Gabriel Attal will also have to establish a peaceful relationship with the unions, which were rather suspicious after his appointment, but which have already welcomed his ability to dialogue in the past. His first mission in his new costume and faced with the shortage of staff, will be to ensure at the start of the school year, a teacher in front of each class.