For Jean-Pierre Obin, former Inspector General of National Education who piloted, in 2004, the report on "signs and manifestations of religious affiliation in schools", clearly reproaches the then Minister of Education , François Fillon, for having "buried" this alarming investigation which has never been as topical as since the assassination of Samuel Paty on Friday in Conflans.
But then what does the person think?
Asked yesterday by phone to talk about it and respond to this criticism, he sent us several text messages.
“Minister of National Education from March 2004 to May 2005, I implemented the law on religious symbols at school which I was one of the few to defend from the start before the Stasi commission and against most trade unions and parents' organizations and a good number of inspector general colleagues of Mr. Obin ”, reminds the former Prime Minister of Nicolas Sarkozy.
"His rather thin recommendations were presented in the development of the law on schools"
“This report was not buried and its recommendations, moreover rather thin, were presented in the drafting of the law on schools, which was also opposed by trade unions, the general inspectorate and parents' organizations.
We certainly did not do enough, but everything we did was contested and most often undone by the ministers who followed, ”he continues, noting that he“ quotes Mr. Obin's report ”in his "Book Overcoming Islamic Totalitarianism page 98".
"In the end, with the ban on religious symbols and the circular on secularism of May 2004, I believe I have acted more than most of my successors in this field", he defends himself.
When asked why the report given to him was not published, he wrote: "I have no recollection of it".
