Emmanuel Macron went to Marseille, accompanied by Pap Ndiaye, the new Minister of National Education and Youth. The Head of State comes to follow the progress of the “school of the future” experiment, launched in September 2021 with the “Marseille en grand” plan. This “school of the future” is a test that plans to give more freedom and autonomy to the teaching teams of 59 schools in Marseille.
Opposition on recruitment by school principals
Emmanuel Macron explained that he wanted this model to be generalized at the national level in the coming months. The key point, which raises the most questions, is the possibility for school principals to participate directly in the recruitment of teachers.
In an attempt to reassure the teachers’ unions, the Head of State therefore used the footballing metaphor: “We never said, we are going to get all the school principals to do, we are in a city of football, so we’re going to say their own transfer window, that wouldn’t work. On the other hand, telling ourselves that we want to rebuild the educational project at school level and give the possibility of ensuring that the teacher who is recruited sharing this project is very important. Otherwise, we need people who are affected by their assignment”
The President evokes, in short, an evolution of the model of National Education. For Emmanuel Macron, this makes sense but even here in Marseille, Mayor Benoît Payan, rather favorable to this school of the future, said he was opposed to this point in particular.
“I want to lead the politics of truth”
The President also reacted to an investigation by the newspaper l’Opinion on the multiplication of Islamic outfits in schools. According to the daily, territorial intelligence even alerted the Ministry of the Interior, as did the rectorates with the Ministry of Education.
The file should be submitted to Pap Ndiaye alongside the President in Marseille. The right-wing oppositions had denounced a certain communitarian vision of the new Minister of Education. Emmanuel Macron wanted to make things clear.
“The policy that I want to conduct is always the same, that of the truth. There must be no taboos, no prohibitions and no longer any fantasies. And I want the truth, clarity on all the figures and then I want the law of the Republic applies and the law is very clear for all students in our schools. There are no religious signs whatsoever,” he explains.
Emmanuel Macron promised to respond “to all situations that do not respect the laws of the Republic”.