Gabriel Attal goes from Education to Prime Minister

Appointed Minister of National Education on July 20, replacing the discreet Pap Ndiaye, Gabriel Attal, 34, will have stayed five months and twenty days, the second shortest stay in this position under the Fifth Republic after that of Benoît Hamon in 2014 (four months and 24 days).

Upon his arrival, he immediately marked a change of tone and embodied a line of firmness, breaking with the hesitations of his predecessor. After the riots at the end of June, he wanted to “put respect for authority and fundamental knowledge back at the heart of the school”.

To resolve pending issues, he announced at the end of August the postponement of the baccalaureate specialty tests from March to June, then the ban on the abaya at school.

The subject of the abaya dominates the media at the start of the September school year, to the great dismay of the teaching unions, overshadowing the teacher recruitment crisis, with still more than 3.100 positions not filled in the competitive examinations.

A fan of “electroshock”

The minister then tackles school bullying, a government priority, at the heart of the news after the suicide at the start of the school year of Nicolas, a teenager from Poissy (Yvelines).

Mr. Attal calls for a “collective shock”, before the announcement at the end of September of an interministerial plan on the subject, including the creation of empathy courses at school.

After the death of Dominique Bernard on October 13, a French teacher stabbed to death in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), the very active minister once again displays his firmness: referrals to the public prosecutor and disciplinary procedures against the students having disrupted the tribute to the teacher, announcement of measures to “get” radicalized students out of schools.

“The wave is over,” he asserts to the National Assembly.

It is on "raising the level of students" that the minister announces his latest round of measures at the beginning of December, in the wake of the disappointing results of the international Pisa study.

After two months of a "Requirement of knowledge" mission launched with great fanfare on the esplanade of the François-Mitterrand National Library, he lists his solutions: new maths test for the baccalaureate in first grade, creation of level groups in middle school, entry to high school conditional on obtaining the certificate, controversial return to repeating a year, new programs at primary school.

“Footboard”

At the risk of being accused of harboring a backward-looking vision of school, he was preparing to continue at the same pace by detailing an experiment in wearing uniforms at school, middle school and high school.

He was also to outline Thursday, during his wishes to the press, future announcements on teacher training, teacher safety or the implementation of the first empathy courses at school.

In these five months of announcements, which fueled his rise in the polls, the man who was the youngest Minister of National Education in the Fifth Republic will not have had time to measure the real impact.

However, he assured Tuesday that he would "always" remain alongside the teaching world, concluding a videoconference meeting with heads of establishments, at the very time when the announcement of his effective appointment to Matignon was spreading.

For Catherine Nave-Bekhti, general secretary of Sgen-CFDT, her departure "questions the importance given or not to educational issues by the executive" and "the continuity of educational policy".

“It’s quite surprising to stay for such a short time when he said he wanted to delve into structural reforms for the school,” says Guislaine David, general secretary of FSU-SNUipp, the main primary school union. .

But "we also knew that he was there for his career and that the post of Minister of National Education was only a stepping stone."

CAPEB welcomes the appointment of Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister

CAPEB congratulates Gabriel Attal on his appointment as Prime Minister and wishes him every success in his new role. The organization expects the Prime Minister to implement the reforms necessary for the proper functioning of the economy and society, as well as recognition of the place of VSEs which contribute to it.

The energy transition is an immense challenge that we must take on together to enable the country to achieve its objectives in terms of carbon neutrality and to realize its ambitions to renovate the housing stock, allowing our fellow citizens to live comfortably in their homes while by being sober and energy efficient.

All households must be supported and accompanied in their energy renovation projects. All artisanal building companies, naturally competent in their trades in these markets, must be able to contribute to these renovations, whether they are global or individual. All technical and energy solutions must be implemented to converge towards a single objective: the reduction of greenhouse gases.

In this regard, CAPEB recalls its Last Chance Appeal which it launched at the end of December with more than thirty major construction players to make the MaPrimeRénov' reform, which came into force on January 1, 2024, less exclusive and more effective.

It's urgent ! Today, this reform excludes too many households ready to carry out energy renovation work, too many companies capable of carrying them out, too many technical solutions likely to improve the energy class of housing and which are sometimes the only ones possible.

CAPEB calls on the Prime Minister not to leave this appeal unanswered. She is counting on him to immediately initiate consultation with professionals so that this reform is a success. It is not a question of defending particular interests, but of serving the collective interest.

CAPEB has made numerous proposals to improve this system and consolidate this work by simplifying the assistance and work control systems, respecting healthy competition and avoiding fraud.

In a period where new construction is in decline, the renovation of housing is an absolute priority to put real estate back on the market which is not there today and which, once brought up to standard and made comfortable, could allow a greater number of our fellow citizens to find housing. The accessibility of buildings also contributes to the well-being to which our seniors aspire, the vast majority of whom wish to age in place.

Our schools, and the new Prime Minister is well placed to know this, also require massive renovations, particularly in terms of energy.

There is no shortage of challenges to overcome, and craft construction companies are at the forefront of contributing to them. CAPEB asks the new Prime Minister to take into consideration these hundreds of thousands of small businesses at the level of what they represent, that is to say 97% of construction companies, in the policies he intends to implement. .

Finally, CAPEB hopes that the new Prime Minister will immediately continue the simplification process initiated by the previous government, because businesses' expectations in this area are strong and legitimate. It is urgent to remove all administrative constraints that hinder business activity and productivity!