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Further investigation
Although it cultivates discretion, the prestigious private school group has found itself at the heart of several controversies. He would not have respected his contract with the State and would have flirted with Catholic fundamentalism. “Additional investigation” returns to the contested practices of the establishment.
Stanislas. This name reignited the school war after the declarations of the short-lived Minister of National Education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. A symbol of academic excellence for some, of elite solidarity for others, this private school which cultivates discretion has found itself at the heart of public debate.
The establishment, located in the beautiful districts of Paris, has seen a President of the Republic, ministers, generals and bosses of large companies pass through its walls. It has a 100% success rate for the baccalaureate, and offers preparatory classes for the Grandes Écoles ranked among the best in France. Backed by figures, the editorial staff of “Additional investigation” demonstrates that this is one of the high schools in France where social diversity is the lowest.
The school was the subject of serious accusations which led the ministry to initiate an inspection. The magazine looks back on the contested practices of this establishment, a private school under contract with the State where the Catholic religion occupies a preponderant place.
The school has recruited, on several occasions, priests from the fundamentalist movement. For almost ten years, the establishment called on a speaker who has a very particular vision of sexual education, in particular encouraging chastity before marriage. Very involved in the Manif pour tous at the time of the vote for homosexual marriage, Stanislas would have allowed a homophobic climate to flourish. In any case, that’s what former students tell us. The establishment denies these accusations.
In September 2024, a former Stanislas supervisor was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence for violence against students. He appealed the judgment. A few years earlier, he had been fired by the establishment for having viewed pornographic videos of very young men during his working hours. In these two cases, the establishment chose silence to protect its reputation.
An investigation by Nathalie Sapena, Brice Le Borgne, Steven Pichavant and Olivier Broutin.
In the red armchairs: Othman Nasrou, Secretary of State responsible for citizenship and the fight against discrimination.
The editorial staff of “Complément d’investigation” invites you to comment on the program on Facebook or on X with the hashtag #ComplementDenquete.
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– THE IGESR report on Stanislas, available on the Mediapart website.
– THE statistical work by economist Julien Grenet on the growing share of private schools in Paris (February 2024).
– The parliamentary report on public financing of private education under contract (April 2024).
– THE report from the Court of Auditors on private education under contract (June 2023).
– To determine the positioning of the Stanislas high school among all high schools in France, we used public indicators found on the National Education website: the social position indices of all high schools in France, the Social Position Index defined by the Ministry of National Education.
– THE Stanislas’ internal regulations for the year 2024-2025, called “rules of life”, on the Stanislas website.
– Publications of the internal newspaper “Echo de Stan”.
– There Stanislas College YouTube channel.
– The two press articles which motivate the triggering of the general inspection at Stanislas: “The sexist, homophobic and authoritarian universe of Stanislas, the ‘best’ high school in France” (Mediapart, June 28, 2022), “Stanislas, the elite college which advocates female ‘modesty’ in the face of boys’ ‘drives'” (The ExpressJune 8, 2022).
– Other articles: “A former executive of an excellent Catholic high school targeted by a judicial investigation for sexual assault and violence” (The WorldDecember 14, 2020), “The demons of Stanislas College, citadel of private Catholic education” (The WorldAugust 2, 2023).
Non-exhaustive list.