Jean-Michel Blanquer: "We will not accept that the minute's silence is not respected"

It is a drawn-out Minister of Education who received us late Friday evening, at the end of a defense council devoted in part to questions of security in schools and a meeting with local elected officials.

Two days before the start of the school year, Jean-Michel Blanquer knows he is expected.

First in terms of health, he who has done everything so that schools do not close and has been widely criticized for a few days for not having sufficiently tightened the rules while the epidemic is swelling.

It is in this complicated context that a tribute will be paid this Monday morning to Samuel Paty, the professor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, beheaded after showing his students caricatures of the prophet Muhammad.

Students were to arrive at 10 a.m. Monday to allow teachers to prepare for this day.

Finally, it will be 8 o'clock.

Why ?

JEAN-MICHEL BLANQUER.

The arrival at 10 am was a hypothesis, which allowed the teams to meet before the arrival of the students.

But it posed a school transport problem and the responsible local authorities said they would not succeed.

It could also be a problem for parents.

Finally, it was not the best solution to ensure the fluidity and therefore the security of the reception of students in the much more sensitive context that we are going through since the Nice attack.

We therefore preferred to keep the usual organization, more compatible with the reinforced health protocol which comes into force on Monday.

Of course, the tribute to Samuel Paty is maintained.

The minute of silence will take place, as will the reading of the "Letter to teachers" by Jean Jaurès.

The hour of moral and civic education devoted to the attack is scheduled before the minute of silence.

But it can be done at another time, if a teacher feels he needs more time to prepare it.

Are you giving up on gatherings in the yard?

We are forced to do so because of the worsening health situation.

But, locally, there may be arrangements depending on the location of the premises.

For example, in a school where the playground is large and the students are few, you can get together if it respects the new sanitary rules.

Why did you choose this letter from Jean Jaurès?

It is part of the reference documents.

It sums up the spirit of the Republic and the spirit of the School of the Republic.

An extract had already been read during the homage to Samuel Paty in the courtyard of the Sorbonne.

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Why in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where the drama was tied, the start of the school year is postponed by one day?

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We wanted to allow teachers to meet and have time to discuss everything that has happened and to prepare for the students to come the next day.

I will be going there with the Prime Minister on Monday to support the teams at this inevitably difficult time.

During the minute of silence, do you fear slippages as in 2015?

Is it also to limit this risk that the students are not gathered in the yard?

A tribute in the courtyard, with adults, would have been on the contrary likely to avoid disturbances.

It is really a matter of health security.

Do you dread unhappy words?

We know that this kind of phenomenon can exist.

Let us be perfectly clear: we will not accept that the minute's silence is not respected.

If there are any problems, the “Values ​​of the Republic” teams, which come to help staff prevent attacks on secularism, will visit the establishments concerned to help resolve them.

How can we help teachers come back to what happened?

In the educational documents which were sent to the teachers, there are proposals on how to do things and many reference documents posted online this weekend.

We have recorded videos of several personalities, such as the former Minister of Justice Robert Badinter explaining the challenges of transmitting the values ​​of the Republic, and I proposed via Noël Le Graët to the French football team to testify to the values ​​of the Republic and the support of teachers: they gave us a very nice video.

We have worked hard to ensure that this tribute is not limited to the day of November 2, and that it continues throughout the month.

"We must strengthen moral and civic education, especially in terms of the number of hours of lessons," said Jean-Michel Blanquer.

/ LP / Guillaume Georges  

While a new attack was committed Thursday in Nice, should we not do everything to calm the climate?

The president of the French Council for Muslim Worship in particular suggested reviewing the way in which we approach the issue of freedom of expression at school, before going back.

What do you think ?

Note that he recognized a clumsiness.

It is obvious that we will not back down on anything that constitutes the values ​​of the Republic, starting with freedom of expression, which must be full and complete in France.

Shouldn't we nevertheless review the way in which these values ​​are transmitted?

We must strengthen moral and civic education, especially in terms of the number of hours of lessons.

And we will do it from the next school year.

There will also be a reform of the patent, the principle of which will be to promote the civic engagement of students.

For example, when they join the Cadets of the Republic with the police or with the gendarmes, when they take part in cleaning up a forest or helping the elderly, that will count.

In what form ?

This will be clarified in the coming months.

We are launching a collective work on these subjects.

And why not do it for other diplomas, for example the bac?

We have already chosen to promote civic engagement in high school students through Parcoursup (

civic

).

In college, this is especially important.

Adolescents are at a key age, where there are often temptations of all kinds: violence, fundamentalism, drugs… On the contrary, they must be directed towards others, towards the general interest, towards commitment and the values ​​of the Republic.

Do you regret having spoken of an Islamo-leftism and the devastation it would cause, in your opinion, at the university?

This gave rise to bitter reactions, hardly compatible with national unity.

Our goal is obviously to have a peaceful atmosphere.

But it is very important to name the problems.

There should be no complacency with extremism, radicalism in our society.

Those who do not have this complacency do not have to be affected by what I have said.

To say that, in my opinion, is on the contrary to contribute to national unity.

The French want us to be firm on these issues.

What do you think should be done in universities?

Do we need more monitoring of what's going on there?

It is a subject of ideological movement of world level which goes far beyond the universities.

I know the springs and I know how to identify them.

But I am not Minister of Higher Education, it is not in my area of ​​expertise and it is not my subject today.

“The mask from 6 years old?

It is a constraint for a young child, I am aware of it ”, recognizes the Minister of Education. / LP / Guillaume Georges  

Do you plan to strengthen security around and in schools?

The subject was on the agenda of the defense council which was held on Friday and where we were able to work on it, with the Ministers of the Interior and of the Armed Forces Gerald Darmanin and Florence Parly.

As you know, the Vigipirate-Attack Alert plan has been initiated and is helping to strengthen security.

We also have a security plan for each school in France.

Indirectly, confining the rest of society protects them as well.

How to support teachers when they are caught in a gear like the one Samuel Paty found himself in?

We need clear references and concrete actions on the educational level and for the life of the establishments.

We drew up clear references three years ago, by creating the Council of the Elders of Secularism.

From the start, he clarified the institution's position in matters of secularism and religious facts.

It gives teachers a bigger footing, better benchmarks.

This work is constantly updated.

On concrete actions, we have created the “Values ​​of the Republic” teams to support teachers in the field.

A survey carried out by Ifop shows that a large percentage of teachers censor themselves, sometimes avoiding subjects related to secularism ...

The main response to this is clarity of institutional demand.

We do not ignore moral and civic education and the values ​​of the Republic, on the contrary.

Then you need good training, which some teachers have deemed insufficient in this area.

We had already planned to strengthen initial training, but we will also strengthen continuing training.

Then the teacher must not be alone, hence the importance of teamwork within each establishment, and beyond, with the “Values ​​of the Republic” teams.

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Yet many of them feel alone on the front lines ...

We haven't solved everything, far from it!

Because the task is immense.

I am aware of that, and that is why we have taken all of these measures.

We are progressing step by step.

We've turned the tables, and the teachers know they've got support.

There is sometimes self-censorship, sometimes still fears, I can understand that, that's why I reaffirm more strongly this support for everyone.

I also make this appeal to society: parents must always respect the teacher.

This tribute takes place in a particular health context.

The Snuipp union, the majority in primary education, has asked you to postpone the start of the school year by one day to allow teachers to prepare for the arrival in better conditions.

Wasn't that desirable?

It should be remembered that everyone worked hard to make the start of the September school year a success, and I would like to thank the teachers and all the staff who contributed.

This re-entry took place following a protocol that greatly reduced contamination in schools.

It is on this basis that we are making this return to school in November.

We are not changing the nature of the health protocol, we are strengthening its modalities according to a plan that we have prepared since July under the inspiration of the High Council of Public Health.

And because you have to be flexible, we give ourselves the week to fully implement it.

Do the class closure thresholds change?

These thresholds, which are defined with the health authorities, remain the same for the moment.

I remind you that they are already extremely demanding, with a planned closure as soon as there are three positive cases in a class.

Why have masks imposed from 6 years old?

As long as we could avoid it, we avoided it.

But to the extent that there is an intensification of the circulation of the virus, this is part of the barrage measures.

It is a constraint for a young child, I am aware of it.

VIDEO.

The mask from 6 years old?

"An additional precautionary measure" for Blanquer

Are you going to provide free masks to the students?

The principle remains the same: it is the parents who equip their children.

But we continue to have social action with the most disadvantaged.

We have distributed 9 million masks free of charge since the start of the school year.

We also have stocks available for students who for one reason or another have forgotten or lost it.

Leaving middle and high schools open, is it not risky from a health point of view?

The French Pediatric Society and the Haut Conseil de la santé publique say it: there are more advantages to keeping schools open than to closing them, whether from an educational, social, psychological or health point of view. .

You mentioned tests in schools in September.

It is still up to date ?

Yes.

France has increased its screening capacity to reach nearly two million tests per week, and we have decided that education professionals will be a priority.

There will be as many tests as needed, as soon as a staff asks for it.

This can be done on site or outside.

Due to the high school reform, the students are mixing together a lot more than before.

Isn't this likely to promote the spread of the virus?

There are many trips to school, it's true.

This generates intermixing of students that must be limited as much as possible.

This is why we have left the possibility to the principals to limit the mixing by level rather than by class, or even to organize distance courses.

We do not encourage it, but those who wish can do so.

All the resources and tools are at their disposal for this.

"The Nation loves its teachers, it needs them for its republican backbone", supports Jean-Michel Blanquer./LP/ Guillaume Georges  

Several measures of this reinforced protocol seem difficult to apply.

For example, the reception in the canteen, with a distance of one meter between students.

So much so that some criticize you for posting posters to keep establishments open at all costs ...

In the canteen, there too we are obliged to have flexibility locally because the situation is very different from one place to another.

However, a series of reflexes set in, whether in May-June or September-October.

It is this sense of adaptation of the actors on the ground that will be put to work.

We also provide, in the protocol, the possibility of taking meals in the classes rather than in the dining rooms.

But these modalities are necessarily local.

You said you will keep the schools open as long as you can.

What's the limit?

We know that confinement is a source of significant inconvenience for children and young people.

We want to prevent them from doing that.

They are our top priority and that is why they are the big exception to the containment that we do.

It is by always having the concern for the best interests of the students that we make all these decisions.

It is better to have targeted confinement taking into account a local health situation rather than general confinement for children.

This is what we were able to do in September and October, with an average of 0.15% of establishments or classes closed, based on objective health criteria.

Are the salary increases for teachers which are being examined a way of encouraging and welcoming the pursuit of their missions in this difficult context?

We had prepared them before the health crisis so they are not directly correlated.

Covid or not, we know that teachers play a vital role in our society.

However, it is true that the first measures that we are taking for this salary increase in 2021, within the framework of the Grenelle de l'Education, are also a signal of recognition that is sent to them in these difficult circumstances.

The message is clear: the Nation loves its teachers, it needs them for its Republican backbone and for the future of its children.