“It carries us more than it is a problem for us”

It’s time for the last finishing touches for this brand new college to Valenton (Val de Marne), which welcomes 385 students in a popular district a few kilometers from Orly airport. Friday, November 19, it will be inaugurated to become the first college named after Samuel Paty. Until then, only one nursery school in the Alpes-Maritimes bore the name of this professor assassinated in October 2020 by a terrorist. Emerged from the ground in September, the college welcomed its first students. But the official baptism takes place only this Friday, the time for the work to be completed.

The Samuel-Paty college has 16 classes, only from sixth to fourth this year since third students will not enter until September 2022. For Salima Chalqi, the principal, the symbolism is strong. “The name of our establishment creates the need to give meaning to all these values, she says. I know that they are also worked on in the other establishments, but we are going to seize them on a daily basis. “

In other cities, other plans to name schools Samuel Paty may have alarmed parents of students, worried that their children would become targets. But this is not the case here, assures the main one: “We were wondering about the possible reactions. In the end, we had none.”

The feeling is the same among teachers, as with Clément Alami, professor of history and geography. He was initially surprised by this name, but today, he says he is enthusiastic and even more invested than elsewhere. “Of course, we think about what we do in light of the name of our establishment, more than if it was called Victor-Hugo or Jules-Ferry, he confides. It carries us more than it causes us a problem. “ The choice was made by the departmental council of Val-de-Marne based on a proposal from the PCF president of the department, Christian Favier.