Jean Michel Blanquer does not budge: according to him, some families with modest incomes do not use the back-to-school allowance only for the needs of their children. “We know very well, if we look things in the face, that sometimes there are larger purchases of flat screens in September than at other times,” said the Minister of National Education on Sunday. the plateau of France 3. A way of justifying the reason why he considered “interesting” and deserving “to be studied”, the proposal of the MoDem member Perrine Goulet to pay the back-to-school allowance (ARS) in the form of a voucher.
🎒🪙 Allowance of #Back to School, should they be transformed into vouchers?
👉@jmblanquer is not opposed to it. “We know that there are sometimes larger purchases of flat screens in September than at other times …”📺 @letellier_ftv @ France3tv #DimPol pic.twitter.com/BxXMgwPD0e
– DimancheEnPolitique (@DimPolitique) August 29, 2021
Two surveys carried out by CAF in 2002 and 2013 conclude that families spend most of the amount on school expenses. Despite this, the Minister in charge of Education has not moved one iota on his position. Interviewed on Brut Tuesday, he said that “the few references there are on the subject are quite dated and are […] declarative ”. “From the moment you donate funds in euros, you cannot be sure that 100% of people will spend them on children. […], it’s obvious ”, he assured before drawing a parallel with the sales of flat screens which“ increase in September ”.
The minister persists and signs
Asked again about his statements this Wednesday in the morning of France Inter, Jean Michel Blanquer maintained his remarks, affirming that there were no “real investigations” on the question. “These are investigations into statements of what people say,” he said. However, he gave no evidence that families would use the back-to-school allowance to buy flat screens in September, which would explain the increase in sales at this time of year.
Since the start of the week, the minister’s remarks have sparked outrage. MEP Yannick Jadot thus judged Jean-Michel Blanquer’s words “totally irresponsible”. “All the studies that have been made by the Health Insurance, by family allowances, by its own ministry, dispute this assertion”, he assured Tuesday on LCI. The ecologist also judged the words of Jean-Michel Blanquer “totally irresponsible”, pointing to “the cynicism and contempt” of part of the government for “the popular classes”.
“Fortunately, I don’t guide my boat in the light of hashtags”
Back-to-school allowance and flat screens: Jean-Michel Blanquer reacts to the controversy. pic.twitter.com/vh3SX8QH9H– Brut FR (@brutofficiel) August 31, 2021
In a press release, the SE-Unsa teachers’ union also denounces “the suspicion towards precarious families” while “the purchases linked to the back-to-school allowance are in their vast majority related to the set objective”. “Blanquer, when preparing for the start of the new school year, still finds time to despise the poorest and discredit the parents of students,” lamented the National High School Movement in a tweet, denouncing “false information”.