Until now, the National Rally had given few details concerning its national education program. This was without counting on the party’s school referent, Roger Chudeau. In the columns of our colleagues Echoesthis Friday, June 21, this former associate professor, ex-headmaster, academy inspector, general inspector and ministerial advisor to Gilles de Robien at National Education and then to François Fillon at Matignon, delivered the program.
If the far-right party were to form a government, National Education would be the subject of the first measures. Starting by undoing the reforms carried out by Gabriel Attal, former Minister of Education, before being appointed Prime Minister. “We are going to abolish the ‘clash of knowledge’ as a public policy and stop corporatizing teachers,” he says, adding that we must trust the autonomy of teachers.
Symbolic measures
In the immediate future, the RN would also take more symbolic measures. “We will insist on secularism, particularly in priority education, assures Roger Chudeau. Teachings are contested, halal food is omnipresent, Ramadan exerts terrible pressure on school life. All this must stop.” He specified that those accompanying school outings will no longer be able to wear the veil.
Another proposal to “restore order”: send disruptive students to specialized centers. They would do all their schooling there until the age of 16, “without the possibility of returning to a normal establishment”, explains Roger Chudeau. They would follow “ordinary school programs” but would be offered “prospects of professional integration as early as possible”. In the event of further disruption, these students would be directed to closed educational centers by court order. The provision would also apply to “radicalized students”, he explains. In addition, if the party still wishes to implement the wearing of uniforms for all, the RN education advisor nevertheless recognizes that it will take time to enforce the measure.
A “revised” and “more demanding” baccalaureate
At high school, from the start of the 2025 school year, the RN promises “the end of the Blanquer baccalaureate”, “the reestablishment of the series”, which would be modernized and the return to “a real class” (and no longer specialty groups). Roger Chudeau announces a “revised” and “more demanding” baccalaureate where it would be more difficult to obtain honors. The far-right party also promises a national convention to “renovate the teaching of mathematics” and attract more young people to the discipline.
Concerning middle school, the party proposes a national entrance exam in sixth grade, which students would take in CM2. “The single college is over!” says Roger Chudeau. “We intend to replace the single college with a modular college which will direct students earlier, more quickly, towards professional sectors which are today unfairly devalued,” declared Jordan Bardella on Thursday before Medef.
This Friday, National Education executives signed a petition denouncing the possible arrival of the far right to power on July 8. They assured that they would refuse to obey directives “in opposition to republican values”. The text collected nearly 750 signatures.