French historian Pap Ndiaye succeeds Jean-Michel Blanquer as Minister of National Education. Where does he come from, why is he already criticized and what is the background of this specialist in the social history of the United States?
The cabinet reshuffle was announced this Friday, May 20, 2022 by the secretary general of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler. Following the appointment ofElisabeth Borne as Prime Minister, the government chose the historian Pap Ndiaye to replace Jean-Michel Blanquer, as Minister of National Education and Youth, which he had held for five years. “I am a pure product of republican meritocracy, of which the school is the pillar (…) I am also, perhaps, a symbol of diversity. I take no pride in it but rather the sense of duties and responsibilities that are mine.“said Pap Ndiaye during the handover in rue de Grenelle. But since his appointment, Pap Ndiaye has been the subject of numerous criticisms, and finds himself particularly criticized by the far right…
Who is Pap Ndiaye, the new Minister of National Education?
Pap Ndiaye was born in 1965 in Antony in the Hauts-de-Seine and grew up in the suburbs of Paris. Her father, Senegalese, is a renowned engineer in sub-Saharan Africa and her mother, French, from a family of farmers then became a professor of natural sciences in a college, raised her children alone. Pap Ndiaye is now the father of two children, whom he had with sociologist Jeanne Lazarus. The French historian specializes in the social history of the United States and minorities. Holder of a doctorate from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Pap Ndiaye was notably a lecturer, then professor at Sciences Po Paris, and finally general manager of the Palais de la Porte-Dorée. The new Minister of National Education and brother of writer Marie Ndiayeis also the one who led the Immigration History Museum.
Pap Ndiaye, already criticized by the far right
Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour immediately reacted to the appointment of the new Minister of National Education accusing Emmanuel Macron of wanting “deconstruct” the history of France. For the RN candidate, the arrival of Pap Ndiaye in the ministry is “the last stone in the deconstruction of our country, its values and its future” she believes on Twitter. She adds in front of the cameras that this appointment “defending indigenism, racialism at the head of national education, is a terrifying choice”. As for Jordan Bordela (RN), he qualifies him as “racialist and anti-cop activist“. On CNews, Eric Zemmour denounces the fact that Pap Ndiaye “has participated in meetings forbidden to whites, he is a real indigenous intellectual, a real woke”. Elisabeth Borne did not hesitate to immediately defend her new Minister of Education: “Pap Ndiaye is a very committed Republican, someone who believes in the values of the Republic and that is obviously what he will wear as Minister of National Education.“
What missions await Pap Ndiaye at National Education?
Social and school inequalities, teacher recruitment, back to school... Many topics await the new Minister of National Education and Youth. For Pap Ndiaye, the challenge of the post of Minister of Education is therefore daunting, as students and teachers have been turned upside down in recent years by the Covid-19 crisis as well as the baccalaureate reform, which deserves, from the start of the school year, new adaptations, particularly with regard to the reintroduction of mathematics in the common core. In any case, Emmanuel Macron intends to promote a “new method” to better meet the expectations and needs of the French, especially since Jean-Michel Blanquer has been repeatedly criticized for some of his measures taken during this five-year term. “My first thoughts go to the world of teachers which has always been mine“assured the new Minister of National Education.