Europe 1 with AFP // photo credit: Frederic Dides / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 16:54 p.m., July 20, 2023

The former Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal has just been appointed to the Ministry of National Education by the head of government and will succeed Pap Ndiaye. Questions were then raised by certain political figures, such as Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, about her legitimacy to occupy the ministry representing France professors.

Gabriel Attal, 34, will succeed Pap Ndiaye as head of the Ministry of National Education, several sources in the presidential majority said Thursday. Gabriel Attal, until then Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, will become the youngest holder of this position under the Fifth Republic. Thomas Cazenave will be his successor at the Ministry of Public Accounts. Erected as a priority project at the beginning of the five-year term by Emmanuel Macron, the School enjoys the first state budget (64.2 billion), up 3.9% in 2024 according to the first budget documents, but the National Education seems to be prisoner of successive crises. On Rue de Grenelle, the new minister will have to find lasting solutions to the teacher recruitment crisis, a major challenge for the school system. Pap Ndiaye has paved the way by initiating the return of competitions in the first degree at bac + 3 against bac + 5.

Increasing remuneration is also part of the solutions to increase attractiveness. But both the unconditional budgetary effort and the "pact", which provides for an increase in remuneration subject to new missions, have met with the hostility of the unions and left perplexed the teaching world affected by a lasting feeling of downgrading. School bullying, "priority of the 2023 school year" according to the Prime Minister, but also recurring controversies over secularism, such as the wearing of abayas, will also be on the minister's agenda. In addition, the new minister will have to correct some effects deemed harmful of the Blanquer baccalaureate that cause too much absenteeism in high schools in the 3rd quarter.

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"Does he know the profession?"

"Gabriel Attal knows the Ministry of Education well since he was Secretary of State for Youth (2018-2020) at the time of Jean-Michel Blanquer, but does he know the profession?" asked Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, secretary general of SE-Unsa asked by AFP. "He will follow in the footsteps of Emmanuel Macron. Pap Ndiaye never managed to exist in this ministry, Macron made all the announcements. Emmanuel Macron wanted to make it a symbol, but he never gave him the keys to drive the vehicle," commented the unionist. "We do not have a very optimistic view of this appointment, because Emmanuel Macron is more concerned about posters measures for schools, intended for the general public, rather than the training of young people.

Attal had been in charge of the launch of the SNU (Universal National Service, editor's note) when he was Secretary of State for Youth. This is a bad signal for us," Allain-Moreno said.