Everyone understood, by choosing Pap Ndiaye to succeed Jean-Michel Blanquer at the Ministry of National Education, Emmanuel Macron sought to make a political blow: destabilize the left before the legislative elections, send a comforting signal To teachers, recall that his own conception of equality does not deny differences. But that the appointment of a black man at the head of a sovereign ministry nourishes as much the controversies shows, beyond the political use in fact the President of the Republic himself, that France still has From the way to be done to be, as she claims, “blind to the color of the skin”.
Admittedly, Pap Ndiaye is a symbol. Son of a Senegalese and a French, normalien, associate of history, this pure product of the school of the Republic personally personifies meritocracy. That he now directs the institution precisely responsible for promotion and emancipation by knowledge, and thus arises as a model, sends a capital message at a time when the country, fragmented and destabilized, must find the path of Unity and where disadvantaged social categories – notably from immigration – have reasons to think that the school is not designed for them and leaves them on the edge of the path.
that the new minister does not have the same sensitivity as his predecessor is good news: by mixing his obsession with “wokism” with his management of an ultra -sensitive administration, Mr. Blanquer had alienated many of the 900,000 teachers he was responsible for enhancing. Mr. Ndiaye professes positions both universalists and sensitive to questions of inequality and discrimination, closer to the reality of the classes.
Organize consultation
Now, the restoration of the republican promise of equal opportunities appears as the very first mission of the new minister: France is, among the major countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), that where Social origin weighs the most on the skills and the success of the students. The country forms elite mathematicians, but it is the European red lantern for math in CM1 class and 4 e .
Around this central ambition must organize the priorities of the new minister: better support disadvantaged students, consolidate elementary school, adjust the reform of the school and engage that of the vocational high school. All this involves tackling the deep vocations crisis from which the teaching profession suffers. At a time when, in certain disciplines, the number of positions offered exceeds that of eligible candidates, it is urgent to substantially revalue wages and make the profession attractive.
Before the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron pointed out the teachers by promising remuneration for the merit and the autonomy of the establishments. If Mr. Ndiaye wants to reconnect with them, he must clarify his objectives and organize consultation with all the actors. A pure and simple competition of establishments would only exacerbate inequalities and aggravates the shortage of teachers in difficult areas. But the poor performance of the current education system excludes the status quo.
The new minister leaves with a handicap – he has neither a political network nor experience of a large administration -, but with a capital of sympathy and convictions on equality. It is up to him to use them as well as possible to meet the immense challenges of a national education in crisis and to go beyond the symbol that constitutes his appointment.