A few days before the two years of the death of Samuel Paty, this history professor assassinated by an Islamist terrorist after a course on freedom of expression, on October 16, 2020, The world met the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye. Emphasizing the importance of this trauma for the educational community, he develops his conception of secularism, his strategy to fight against community temptations and to restore the symbolic place of the teacher in society.
We will commemorate, on October 16, the two years of the assassination of Samuel Paty. What has it become the symbol of?
His assassination by a islamist terrorist was a huge shock and, two years later, it is still being felt. It is an extremely powerful trauma. I who am a history teacher, I still feel it. Samuel Paty embodies the act of teaching, the duty to transmit pressures independently, including religious ones. This is why his death was so traumatic, in addition to its horrific circumstances: the assassin attacked the school in its very essence. A tribute will be paid to him in each establishment on Friday or Monday. We ask all establishments to do so.
This commemoration comes at a time when attacks on secularism are on the rise in schools. What are the latest figures compiled by the academies?
For September [pour la première fois, ces chiffres sont publiés mensuellement], there are 313 acts of violation of the principles of secularism. In the last quarter of the previous year, from April to July, 909 facts had been reported, against 635 between December and March. The month of September confirms this increase in offenses against the principle of secularism; 51% of these events take place in high schools. Previously, colleges were the most concerned. The majority of these reports, 54%, concern the wearing of religious symbols and clothing. The September figures confirm what has been observed for a year, namely an increase in reports for dress issues.
On the other hand, reports for refusing to take part in an activity or contesting teaching are lower, around 7% each.
How do you interpret these numbers? Are they higher because the returns are more systematic?
Indeed, we ask that there be no censorship on this subject. But there is definitely a surge in the wearing of outfits that could be considered religious, including abayas, qamis and bandanas. In recent months, we have become aware of a phenomenon of coordination and agitation of part of our youth on social networks.
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