Can one be Minister of National Education after having followed his schooling in private education under contract? And even, can one be Minister of National Education and have his children in private education under contract? This controversy now resurfaces with each redesign. The appointment of Gabriel Attal at the head of the Ministry of National Education was not yet official, Thursday, July 20, that his biography was already scrutinized closely. The former minister delegate in charge of public accounts did all his schooling at the Ecole alsacienne, the elitist private establishment in the 6e district of Paris. Already before him, Pap Ndiaye had to face the controversy surrounding the schooling of his children in this same establishment.
“What does he know in public school?” », could we hear in the educational community or read on the social networks of teachers, at the announcement of the new tenant of Rue de Grenelle. A question taken up by elected officials and parliamentarians from both left and right. Senator Les Républicains, Max Brisson (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) mocked him in a tweet: “having never known the benches of public school, doing all his schooling at the Ecole alsacienne… is now a criterion for becoming Minister of National Education”. A distrust all the greater as the career of Emmanuel Macron, also passed through the private sector, and that of Brigitte Macron, professor in Catholic education, are already fueling criticism of the vision of the school at the top of the state.
Gabriel Attal cut short these controversies from the transfer of power in the courtyard of the Hôtel de Rochechouart, early Thursday evening. “Yes, I went to private school, I don’t have to deny or apologize for this choice my parents made at the time, as millions of parents do every year”, said the Minister who “does not believe that the fight should be to criticize the parents who make this choice”.
“A revealer” of the fabric of the elites
“Previously, appointing a minister who had done at least part of his schooling in private education was extremely rare and subject to a particular situation”analyzes the historian of education Claude Lelièvre. “Between 1958, the date of the beginning of the Ve Republic and 2004, only two ministers – Joseph Fontanet and Alain Savary – out of 21 have had this course. Since 2005, it is much more frequent: four of the eight ministers of education – François Fillon, Gilles de Robien, Luc Chatel and Jean-Michel Blanquer – attended a private establishment when he was a student, most often among the most prestigious “, details the university. Claude Lelièvre sees “a change of time” Or “what was impossible is no longer even a subject in the composition of a government”, “a revealer” also of the factory of the elites in France.
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