In an interview with readers of Le Parisien, first lady Brigitte Macron said she was in favor of wearing school uniforms.
In an interview with Le Parisien and conducted by seven readers of the daily, published on January 12, 2022, Brigitte Macron said she was in favor of wearing school uniforms. Reminding the panelists of their fight against school bullying, she also mentioned the reason why she supported the wearing of an outfit pre-established by schools.
“I wore the uniform as a student: fifteen years of navy blue skirt, navy blue sweater” she remembered at Parisian. An experience of which she has fond memories. The first lady considered the advantages of standardizing outfits: it would not bring differentiation between students but, on the contrary, would save money “compared to brands”, she argued. It would also be an opportunity for students to save time because “it’s time-consuming to choose how to dress in the morning”. If the uniform were to return to French schools, there would be a condition supported by Brigitte Macron, it would take “a simple and not sad outfit”.
Towards a return of the uniform to school?
Not really, according to the current Minister of National Education. Invited to Franceinfo on December 9, 2022, he declared himself unfavorable to a law “which would come to tackle and impose school uniforms for all students” he declared. “I think it would be very naive to think that a uniform would come to settle the questions of secularism”, concluded the minister.
However, this January 12 is the parliamentary niche day of the RN which allows them to present certain legislative proposals. On the agenda at the National Assembly, the school uniform. This measure put forward by the political party would make it possible to fight against “any manifestation of ostentatious religious symbols (…) and to put an end to this race for expensive brands, generating tensions and social inequalities”.
Critics of NUPES
It was enough for the NUPES, a coalition of left-wing parties, to denounce the position of Brigitte Macron, akllant in the same direction as the RN. The new secretary of the Europe Ecologie Les Verts party denounced on Twitter this timing. “So the President’s wife takes a stand to defend a public policy the day the RN proposes it in its niche in the Assembly, the dike has collapsed,” she castigated. Rodrigo Arenas, LFI deputy for the 10th district of Paris, meanwhile critical “an instrumentalization of children” and the “irresponsibility” of the First Lady “to follow in the footsteps of the far right”.