During her press conference on Tuesday evening, Emmanuelle Macron made a host of announcements concerning education. To create a more united France, the head of state is banking on schools.
Emmanuel Macron announced, during his speech on Tuesday January 16, that he wanted to “rebuild civic education courses” at school to create a France united by “common values such as respect”. The Head of State also said he was in favor of learning Marseille in primary school and he announced that if the uniform experiment was successful, he promised its generalization in all French public schools from the start of the 2026 school year.
The head of state wants to regain “control of our screens”. “The future of our societies and our democracies is at stake,” he declared. He announced that he wanted to determine “the proper use of screens” for children at home and in class based on the expert report that the Élysée brought together last week.
“Have a teacher in front of each class”
The President of the Republic also expressed his wish to reinstate graduation ceremonies “from this year” at the college, which he describes as “a Republican rite of unity, pride and recognition”. Emmanuel Macron also wants to strengthen artistic and cultural education, notably by setting up theater classes in middle and high school for all students from the start of the 2024 school year, copying the symbols of American education seen in “television series” to stick them to the French school model.
Finally, after the controversy sparked by the remarks of the Minister of National Education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, following her declaration on the repeated absences of school teachers in the public, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that “95% absences are filled” and that the government organizes itself “to fight against short-term absences”. Facing journalists, the head of state assured that his “objective is to have a teacher in front of each class”.