Saturday will be a year since the unthinkable happened. The beheading of Samuel Paty, 47, near his college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) by Abdoullakh Anzorov, who accused him of showing caricatures of Muhammad to his students. An assassination which had aroused considerable emotion among the French. And among teachers even more. “It was such a shock. And many of us still haven’t overcome it, ”explains Christine Guimonnet, general secretary of APHG, an association of history and geography teachers.
For many teachers, there is a before and an after. Since this tragedy, some have made it even more a point of honor to pass messages on freedom of expression, critical thinking and secularism to their students. Like Sandrine, SVT teacher, who answered our call for witnesses: “I emphasized with my students everything that can educate their critical sense. But I am more worried when I have to broach the themes on the origin of the human being or that of the Earth. I take long minutes to explain that I am presenting scientific ideas and that in doing so I am not criticizing religious beliefs. And when I broach the subject of cartoons, I often explain their origin, the work of denouncing Dutch journalists, the work of supporting French journalists. Because my students are completely ignorant of the context in which they appeared ”.
“This drama has strengthened my links with the students”
Gilles Roumieux, professor of History and Geography at Alès, set up the “Don’t touch my professor” initiative last year. “It was for the students to write what it meant for them to live in a free country, the role of the teacher and what they understood from the assassination of Samuel Paty. I never self-censored, even though I was threatened with death on Twitter. This drama strengthened my ties with the students. In my classes, I always try to give them a voice, to really listen to them. And to show them that only interactions allow them to rise. “
But since the death of Samuel Paty, other teachers are more worried about being challenged by one of their courses and that their safety will be questioned. As Maud testifies: “I censor myself more by fearing the fatal chain that caused the death of Samuel Paty. I chose another approach, less frontal and less focused on France, to tackle freedom of expression, for example by talking about murdered Arabic-speaking journalists; notably Said Mekbel and Naji al-Ali ”. Romain, a literature-history teacher in a vocational high school, also has the impression that he is walking on eggshells more: “I am very careful not to clash with the different religions in my lessons since always, but today, I am afraid. to talk about certain topics. Not afraid of the students, but of their families. Indeed, as the Paty affair has shown, the hierarchy dissociates itself from us as long as the affairs are not publicized, we seek the responsibility of teachers as soon as there is an incident. We are left alone in the face of sometimes violent families. We have no protection, schools are not secure ”.
Fear of being the target of students or parents of students
Marc, professor of Life and Earth Sciences, does not feel protected either: “If a student defends terrorism in your class during a minute of silence, for example, you cannot will be supported by no colleague, no member of the hierarchy. I lived it. We will make it clear to you that you must have misinterpreted his words. “A feeling shared by Marjorie, a French teacher at college:” We have never had training to explain to us how to manage this kind of runaway. So if in a few days, a harassment of the same ilk as that suffered by Samuel Paty breaks out and I am the victim, I do not know how to react. “
For its part, the ministry points out the additional measures that have been taken to secure the daily lives of teachers. Article 10 of the law of 24 August 2021 confirming respect for the principles of the Republic thus enshrined an amendment known as “Samuel Paty”, which punishes three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros “for obstructing , in a concerted manner and with the help of threats, the exercise of the teaching function ”. The law also created a new offense of endangering the life of others by disseminating, for malicious purposes, information relating to private life.
A national secular team in support of academies
According to the latest figures from National Education, between December 2020 and March 2021, 547 reports breaches of the principle of secularism have been identified. A number down compared to last year, where 935 cases of attack on secularism were observed at school. “It seems to me that the parents have better understood that attempts to intrude into the pedagogy of teachers were no longer possible and that this could have serious consequences for teachers”, notes Bruno Bobkiewicz, general secretary of the national union of staff of National Education Department. According to him, “the interest of school leaders is not to cover up incidents, but to deal with them so that they do not happen again. “Christine Guimonnet also wants to be more optimistic:” I think there was a realization that an establishment was not the place where you could practice your religion. And that any teacher taken to task by a student or a parent must be systematically supported by his administration and that his colleagues should form a body around him. “
The ministry also recalls the existence of a national secular team which supports the academies. “Depending on the daily academic feedback to the ministry’s watch unit, as soon as threats that can be considered serious are identified, monitoring systems are implemented, if necessary in conjunction with the police”. In addition, a secularism vade-mecum provides educational teams with precise legal responses and gives advice on action and a referral address allows each National Education staff to contact the national secular team, which undertakes to reach him within 24 hours. “The secularity referents in the rectorships are even more vigilant than before and the heads of establishments know more that they can ask them”, underlines Bruno Bobkiewicz.
Finally, since the start of the school year, the training of 1,000 trainers in secularism and the values of the Republic has started. It is then up to them to share their expertise with the staff of each school, college or high school.