Interventions by associations in front of students sometimes lead to explosive situations. Thus the “Lallab affair”, revealed last March, sparked controversy: how an association which attacks, among other things, the 2004 law on the prohibition of the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols – described as “anti-feminist” on its website – was she able to intervene, this winter, with fourth graders from a public college? Véronique Grandpierre, inspector and referent “secularism, religious facts” of the academy of Paris had then explained to L’Express “go back the thread of events to try to understand how it could happen”.
In June 2022, L’Express also reported certain remarks made by Inès de Franclieu, founder of the association Com ‘je t’aime, who intervened in the context of sexuality education courses at the Parisian college Stanislas. The association manager explained that “the boys had life urges” and that “we had to adapt to them”. Suspected of “homophobic and sexist excesses”, the prestigious private institution is currently the subject of an administrative investigation.
Finally, on May 19, the story of a workshop organized a month earlier by the OUTrans association at the Ecole alsacienne, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, also caused an outcry. According Le Figaro, the tenor of the intervention, supposedly devoted to the prevention of LGBT-phobias – and finally essentially centered on the trans issue – scandalized many parents of students who denounced a form of “propaganda” in favor of “trans activism” . According to the daily, some students were reframed by the lecturers and called “transphobic” after protesting against the assertion that men can be “pregnant”. “This intervention was not in line with what was planned,” the school management has since acknowledged in a statement.
“Associations are not open bar!”, insisted Pap Ndiaye during an interview with L’Express on May 17. But the Minister of National Education recognizes that “it is certainly necessary to specify more clearly the conditions of intervention in the school environment. We are thinking about the right mix”. Because many external speakers present themselves in front of the students. Encouragement to read, inequalities between girls and boys, the fight against all forms of discrimination, awareness of the environment or even media education… The themes that justify it are multiple. And the selection criteria, very vague. Since a law of 1989, the establishments have a wide latitude to welcome external speakers. Some 156 associations are approved nationally… but there are many more of them operating throughout the country.
However, certain themes, such as that of sexuality education or the fight against LGBT-phobias, are particularly sensitive, with parents considering that these subjects are solely a matter for the private sphere. For Carole Zerbib, member of the national executive of SNPDEN-Unsa, a union of school heads, it is on the contrary important for the school to play its preventive role: “The advantage of bringing in certain specialized associations is that they benefit from a certain distance vis-à-vis the students, unlike the teachers who see them almost every day. Speech is therefore often freer”, she explains, while recognizing the importance of good supervision. their interventions to avoid possible risks of proselytism or militancy.
The recent case of the Ecole alsacienne reminds us how delicate this subject is. “The management knew that OUTrans’s intervention would focus on LGBT-phobias but also on transidentity, since we had agreed beforehand. In addition, certain statements by students reported in the press were distorted to for the purpose of political recovery”, defends Charline Martin-Ramelli, general manager of HandsAway, who had delegated this intervention to OUTrans.
Because the episode reveals an astonishing phenomenon: an association can concede its mission of intervening in front of the students to another. “As part of the program “Colleges for Equality” [NDLR : piloté notamment par la Ville de Paris et la région Ile-de-France], yes, it is. We have never hidden it and the list of our partners is visible on our site”, replies Charline Martin-Ramelli. The case of the intervention of Lallab who, again, carried out workshops instead of HandsAway , last January, is in the same scenario.”Everything was transparent, the head of the college in question knew very well that he was dealing with Lallab”, continues Charline Martin-Ramelli, exchange of emails at the Faced with the controversy, HandsAway has since removed Lallab’s name from its site: “This specific case is outside our specific field of control, but it caught our attention. We reaffirm that in our own system, National Education, an approval issued to a particular association is absolutely not transferable to others”, insists, for its part, the rue de Grenelle, which devotes 52 million euros annually to associations.
The ministry points out that there are several levels of validation: some associations have national or academic accreditation valid for five years and potentially renewable. However, headteachers also have the option of choosing non-accredited organisations! “Which is not necessarily problematic. It is sometimes safer to call on a small local association that we know well than to rely on a larger machine made up of a multitude of stakeholders”, explains Stéphanie de Vanssay, representative of SE-Unsa, who has sat for ten years on the National Council of Complementary Educational Associations in Public Education (CNAECEP).
This body, made up in particular of representatives of teacher unions, parents of pupils, associations, or the Ministry of National Education, is responsible for studying requests and giving an advisory opinion. It is then up to the minister to follow them or not. “We check a whole host of parameters, such as the fact that these associations are indeed non-profit, that they respect the principle of secularism and openness to all without discrimination or that there is no risk of sectarian excesses”, specifies Stéphanie de Vanssay. Another obligation supposed to serve as a safeguard: any intervention by an outside personality can only be done in the presence of a member of the educational team.
So much for the theory. In practice, some interventions in schools are not exempt from deviations. The fact that the L214 association, which claims to promote veganism, organizes workshops in schools, is a challenge. “The latter does not have national or academic approval and it intervenes very little”, we specify rue de Grenelle. But are associations with a militant position authorized to intervene? “Sometimes some are only labeled for part of their activity related to the field of education and the rest of their actions are excluded”, further nuances the Ministry of National Education. Last February, right-wing or far-right activists protested against the arrival of the SOS Méditerranée association – nationally approved – in high schools, accusing it of making “pro-immigration propaganda”. “Typically, an association of this type can intervene in a school space to present or shed light on the question of migration. On the other hand, it is not authorized to campaign for or against such or such regulation”, answers the ministry.
For many teachers, these associations have the great advantage of allowing their students to develop their critical thinking. “Many will bring the children to think, reflect and debate together. In short, to rub shoulders with the democratic experience which consists of being able to express one’s agreements and disagreements in a peaceful setting. It’s not nothing!”, believes Rémy-Charles Sirvent, Secretary General of the National Committee for Secular Action. The limit being the promotion of an ideology. On December 14, 2020, Jean-Michel Blanquer, then Minister of National Education, withdrew the national approval initially granted to the association Coexister due to an approach to secularism deemed non-compliant. But, in a judgment made public on March 22, the administrative court of Paris canceled this decision, thus opening the door of the school again to Coexister… unless the current Minister of National Education decided to appeal, before the end of May. However, during his interview with L’Express on May 17, Pap Ndiaye confided that he was not aware of this affair. During the last meeting of the CNAECEP on May 30, the debate on Coexist was postponed.