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Jean-Michel Blanquer: Several advisors are said to have tried to prevent France's education minister from traveling to Ibiza
Photo:
IAN LANGSDON v EPA
France has repeatedly tightened its corona measures in recent months.
The regulations for schools have been the subject of criticism for weeks.
Now there is additional trouble for the education minister.
Jean-Michel Blanquer has come under fire for an interview he conducted from his holiday resort of Ibiza.
Several opposition politicians called on him to resign.
“Instead of preparing for the start of school under corona conditions with teachers and parent representatives, the minister is organizing a PR stunt from the beach,” wrote the Green presidential candidate Yannick Jadot on Twitter.
The news portal "Mediapart" reported the night before that Blanquer had announced the new corona rules for schools after the Christmas holidays in an interview from Ibiza.
The controversial interview appeared in Le Parisien.
The newspaper printed an archive photo of the minister in his office without labeling it as such.
Deputy editor-in-chief Pierre Chausse explained on Twitter that journalists were unaware that the minister was in Ibiza and that the editorial team did not want to hide anything.
Blanquer defends his vacation
The interview, published on January 2, sparked outrage because schools had not been informed of the new rules beforehand and the text initially contained a payment barrier.
The new rules quickly turned out to be difficult to implement and have since been amended several times.
The Ministry of Education rejected the allegations against Blanquer.
A ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency that there was "nothing unusual" about an interview at a distance.
Blanquer had been on vacation for four days.
The ministers would be allowed to be "a two-hour flight" from Paris.
The rules for the schools were based on the recommendations of the health authority, which were only announced on the same day.
"Had (the minister) been there, they would not have been published sooner," the ministry said.
According to reports from »Politico« and »Le Monde«, several advisors had tried in vain to dissuade Blanquer from the Ibiza trip.
"Ibiza is a disaster for the image," Le Monde quoted an unnamed politician from the government majority as saying.
Meanwhile, several teachers' unions have called for another strike on Thursday.
A first strike last week against the corona rules in schools, which were perceived as chaotic, led to numerous school closures.
asc/AFP
