Gabriel Attal, 34, will succeed Pap Ndiaye as head of the Ministry of National Education, several sources from the presidential majority said on Thursday. Gabriel Attal, until then Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, will become the youngest holder of this post under the Fifth Republic. Thomas Cazenave will be his successor at the Ministry of Public Accounts. Erected as a priority project at the start of the five-year term by Emmanuel Macron, the School enjoys the first state budget (64.2 billion), up 3.9% in 2024 according to the first budget documents, but National Education seems to be prisoner of successive crises. Rue de Grenelle, the new minister will have to find lasting solutions to the teacher recruitment crisis, a major challenge for the school system. Pap Ndiaye paved the way by initiating the return of competitions in the first degree at bac+3 against bac+5.
The increase in remuneration is also part of the solutions to enhance attractiveness. But both the unconditional budgetary effort and the “pact”, which provides for an increase in remuneration subject to new missions, have met with hostility from the unions and left the teaching world perplexed, affected by a lasting feeling of downgrading. School harassment, “priority for the start of the 2023 school year” according to the Prime Minister, but also recurring controversies on secularism, like the wearing of abayas, will also be on the minister’s agenda. In addition, the new minister will have to correct certain effects deemed harmful from the Blanquer baccalaureate which cause too much absenteeism in high schools in the 3rd quarter.
“Does he know the profession?”
“Gabriel Attal knows the Ministry of Education well since he was Secretary of State for Youth (2018-2020) in the time of Jean-Michel Blanquer, but does he know the profession?” Asks Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, secretary general of SE-Unsa, asked by AFP. “He will follow in the footsteps of Emmanuel Macron. Pap Ndiaye never managed to exist in this ministry, Macron made all the announcements. Emmanuel Macron wanted to make him a symbol, but he never gave him the keys to drive the vehicle, “commented the trade unionist. “We do not have a very optimistic view of this appointment, because Emmanuel Macron has more at heart display measures for the school, intended for the general public, rather than the training of young people.
Attal had taken care of the launch of the SNU (Universal National Service, Editor’s note) when he was Secretary of State for Youth. It’s a bad signal for us,” continued Elisabeth Allain-Moreno.