2024-01-16 14:07:25
The Minister of National Education, Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, arrives to participate in a visit to the Littré public school in Paris, January 16, 2024. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
The Minister of National Education, Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, visited the Littré public school in Paris on Tuesday January 16. At the heart of a controversy over the schooling of his children, this visit was supposed to put an end to the first crisis of the Attal government.
The minister, with a closed face, arriving around 11:45 a.m., was greeted by a chorus of booswhistles and pots and pans by people demonstrating “in defense of public schools”. Ms. Oudéa-Castéra’s entourage had, however, announced this visit on Monday evening “to meet the teachers and the management team of the establishment, and exchange with them”.
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“Do like your children, return to the private sector”said one of the demonstrators upon his arrival, according to journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) present on the ground. “We have had enough of this policy, which destroys public schools, only runs for money”other demonstrators chanted.
Anne Hidalgo says she shares “the indignation of teachers and parents”
Welcomed on her exit as on her arrival an hour before – by boos –, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra stressed that she “had to” ses « excuses » to get ” hurt “ the teachers and that she « regrettai[t] for having cited them by name” in front of the press when she spoke last Friday of the “packs of hours (…) not seriously replaced » in the audience. At the microphone of BFM-TV, the minister subsequently claimed to be “there to make the school succeed”.
In a letter addressed to Ms. Oudéa-Castéra, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said Tuesday noon to share “the indignation of teachers and parents who were shocked by the comments of the Minister of National Education”. In the extract from the document, published on his Instagram accountMs. Hidalgo affirms that the words of the minister “is a form of distrust and contempt for public schools, which deserve to be supported, not denigrated”. ” I invite youcontinues the mayor of Paris to the attention of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, to coherence and responsibility, by reviewing past and future teaching job cuts in Paris. »
Mired in controversy
Since her remarks made Friday after a trip with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal – whose government is facing its first storm – Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, appointed Thursday at the head of the super ministry, has been mired in controversy. Both his choice to enroll his three sons at the Stanislas school, a prestigious private and conservative establishment in the beautiful neighborhoods of the capital, and his declared motivations, namely “lots of hours not seriously replaced” in the public, statements contradicted by the teacher involved, caused an outcry.
The minister tried to backtrack by saying ” to regret “ having “could have injured certain teachers”, but in vain. The controversy continues to be fueled by teachers’ unions, as well as by the left and the far right, who accuse him of having lied about his motivations and demand his resignation.
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