A parliamentary report denounces the opacity and lack of control of public financing of private education

A parliamentary report by LFI deputies Paul Vannier and Renaissance Christopher Weissberg, which franceinfo was able to consult, denounces the opacity and lack of control of public financing of private education.

A parliamentary report signed by Paul Vannier, LFI deputy, and Christopher Weissberg, Renaissance deputy, and which franceinfo was able to consult, denounces the opacity and lack of control of public financing of private education. The two parliamentarians must present their fact-finding mission on the financing of private education on Tuesday, April 2, before the Education Committee of the National Assembly, after having conducted around sixty hearings and meeting 150 people.

How much is private school funded? How much public money is provided to these schools, middle schools and high schools under contract? So many questions asked in this report. First observation raised by the parliamentarians, the lack of transparency concerning the sums allocated to private schools: no one knows how much private schools receive from public funds, neither the State, nor National Education, nor even the Court of Auditors , point out the conclusions of this report. The statistical services of the Ministry of National Education mention around ten billion euros, divided between the State and the communities, but without further details. This sum is underestimated according to the information mission, because indirect financing is added.

Failure in the public service mission

Concerning the distribution of resources, the deputies also denounce a lack of transparency with a dialogue which often takes place at the highest level, and certain establishments which seem to be privileged. The controls are very insufficient, they add, whether at the financial or educational level and the rewards imposed in exchange for this public funding are too low, regret the authors of the report while the contracts are renewed automatically.

Faced with these observations, parliamentarians demand a better evaluation of expenditure, strengthened control, but also real efforts to promote school diversity by, for example, financially sanctioning establishments which push out students who do not perform well enough in the eyes of private establishments. accused of practicing a certain degree of interlocutorism, elitism and separatism. As a result, the public service mission that these private establishments are supposed to provide is not fulfilled, this report considers.

Private schools educate more than 2 million students (1 in 6) and are three-quarters financed by public spending.