The Minister of Culture declared on Tuesday March 19 that she wanted to close nearly a hundred public cultural higher education schools.
Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, affirmed during an introduction to a hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday March 19 that she wanted to “stop with the policy of ends of string, because ultimately it does not resolve any fundamental problem, and it “is public money badly spent.” The minister refers to certain schools of higher artistic education in France. She plans to close 99 which, according to her, do not have enough resources and do not show satisfactory results.
Among the 99 public cultural higher education schools mentioned by the minister, Ms. Dati specified that this closure would concern “these art schools, in particular for territorial schools, which are in a crisis situation, despite the confirmed commitment of the State”, according to his words. She also added: “If certain schools have to be closed, because today they no longer have the same means, the means to offer a quality environment, perhaps that could be the case.”
Rachida Dati clarified that there are “evaluation bodies for this. It is not the minister who decides on this aspect.” She also explained: “To date the cabinet has received the association representatives, it is receiving the unions, and we will obviously present a global plan.” However, the minister did not specifically state that these schools in particular are targeted by this project. In France there are 43 higher schools of visual arts, 10 of which are national schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. The other 33 are territorial schools. The latter had benefited from emergency aid granted in March 2023 by the former Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak.
As relayed The Parisian, Rachida Dati also declared: “There is a jungle of schools. And some, moreover, are very disconnected from reality, including job opportunities”, before the Cultural Affairs Committee this Tuesday. The minister then announced: “Those who depend on the Ministry of Culture, where my astonishment was great, is that they are not accessible to work-study programs and apprenticeships. absolutely. And that, for schools that depend on the Ministry of Culture, it will be for September 2024.”