Gabriel Attal, Minister of Education until his appointment as Prime Minister on Tuesday, assured that he would “always” remain alongside the teaching world, while the unions deplored “a flashpoint”.
“I really want to tell you that I share with you this conviction that school is the most powerful weapon that we have to change society,” declared Gabriel Attal during a videoconference meeting with the leaders establishments (colleges, high schools), while the announcement of his effective appointment to Matignon spread in the media.
“Whatever the future developments, this conviction, this cause, it will never cease to inhabit me and you will always, always find me at your side to accomplish the mission which is yours with the teachers, which is the most beautiful to the world,” he added, thanking them.
“Start all over again”
Appointed Minister of Education on July 20, 2023, replacing Pap Ndiaye, Gabriel Attal, 34, will have remained at rue de Grenelle for five months and twenty days, the second shortest stay in this position under the Fifth Republic, after that by Benoît Hamon in 2014 (four months and 24 days).
For their part, the teaching unions have all deplored “a lightning transition”. With “flash announcements which one might wonder if they were not intended for a political ambition”, regretted Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the first secondary school teaching union (middle and high schools). Gabriel Attal “very quickly tried to take the opposite view from Pap Ndiaye with a strong media and political presence, a frenzy of announcements (the baccalaureate, the abaya, the clash of knowledge, the uniform, the SNU, etc.) “, according to her.
Catherine Nave-Bekhti, general secretary of Sgen-CFDT, questions “the importance given or not to educational issues by the executive” and “the continuity of educational policy”. “We are going to have both a President of the Republic and a Prime Minister who both display a very strong desire to act on educational issues,” she noted. “This does not bode well for the future Minister of Education.”
Guislaine David, head of FSU-SNUipp, the main primary union, considers it “surprising” that Gabriel Attal stays “for such a short time when he had said he wanted to delve into structural reforms for the school”. But “we also knew that he was there for his career and that the post of Minister of National Education was only a stepping stone.” She says she is “annoyed” by the way in which “the Ministry of National Education and therefore all the staff” are treated.
Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, from SE-Unsa, speaks of “anger and fatigue” because “we will have to start everything from scratch with a new minister”.