He had started the five-year term in the good graces of the triumphant macronism, here he is in full turmoil a few weeks before the end of the mandate of the head of state. Criticized from all sides because of the procrastination around his management of the Covid-19 crisis at school, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of National Education, found himself at the heart of a new controversy, Monday January 17, Mediapart revealing that the minister had spent part of the end-of-year holidays in Ibiza, until the eve of the start of the school year on January 3.
It is therefore from the famous Balearic island that the Minister granted an interview to the Parisian to unveil the contours of the new health protocol, eagerly awaited by parents and teachers (but modified a few days later). Enough to stir up the calls for resignation made by its detractors, already invigorated by the strike led by seven unions in primary and secondary education, Thursday, January 13. A second day of strike is also organized this Thursday, January 20, 80 days before the first round of the presidential election, while the “Blanquer affair” shakes the government and its majority.
For the Minister of National Education, the last few months rue de Grenelle are nothing like his first steps in this sensitive ministry, five years ago. At the time, the general manager of Essec, a renowned business school located in Cergy-Pontoise (Val-d’Oise), was not a complete stranger in the political world: this father of four children was, under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, the director general of school education, the equivalent of number 2 of the Ministry of National Education. “The 80,000 jobs cut, it was him. It’s not nothing to see him get to this job”, then annoys his socialist predecessor, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, on the set of “Daily”.
>> Pragmatic, ambitious, “old France”… Who is Jean-Michel Blanquer?
Initially, Jean-Michel Blanquer takes rather consensual measures: splitting of CP classes, return of assessment classes, homework help… Before launching, in November 2017, one of the first major reforms of the five-year term, that of the baccalaureate, the minister has not yet drawn the wrath of teachers and unions. Thus, he can play the leading roles in the government of Edouard Philippe, which contains civilian personalities not necessarily seasoned in politics.
Strong in his base, he does not hesitate to quickly highlight two of his battles: authority and secularism. Positions that pay off politically. Several times applauded in the National Assembly, in particular for his refusal of meetings “racially unmixed” organized by SUD-Education 93, the minister was even congratulated by Marine Le Pen. “The enthusiasm aroused around Jean-Michel Blanquer, who can even be described as the ‘Blanquer phenomenon’, constitutes a notable ideological victory for the National Front and a crushing defeat for sociologists and pedagogists”, declared the president of the RN in December 2017. In the media, the voluntarism of “the reforming asset” is greeted by Le Figaro, when Release evokes his “macronism with honors”. For Point, it’s simple: Jean-Michel Blanquer is the “vice-president”.
Having become a pillar of the government, the Minister continues to progress with an expanded portfolio in the fall of 2018, hosting the State Secretariat responsible for implementing the reform of the Universal National Service. But like the whole government, the minister must face social anger. In November 2018, he faced, for the first time, a national teachers’ strike, five days before the first Saturday of mobilization of “yellow vests”. The unions denounce pell-mell job cuts, the start of the application of the reform of the baccalaureate or even the track of an evaluation of schools. The following month, at the heart of a winter of disputes, the minister saw the birth of a movement of opposition to his reforms called the “red pens”. These teachers are asking in particular for the thawing of the index point increasing salaries. Rue de Grenelle, the state of grace is well and truly over.
While he did not want to carry a “Blanquer law” when he started in government, the minister finally defends a text, “for a school of trust”, in the spring of 2019. The bill notably includes the compulsory presence of the French and European flags in the classrooms, as well as the words of The Marseillaise, a symbol of the Minister’s commitment to the defense of identity. The lowering of compulsory education from the age of 3 divides the National Assembly and angers many local elected officials. The teachers, they rail against duty “exemplary” which is imposed on them by this law and several groups of teachers are carrying out a strike for the correction of the 2019 baccalaureate.
Instead of rounding off the corners, Jean-Michel Blanquer defends tooth and nail the reforms carried out since the start of the five-year term. He no longer hesitates to step away from his position to affirm in the media that the Islamic veil is not “not desirable” in France, seeing in it a garment that is not “not in line with our values”. The minister is trying to play his own part. Some lend him higher ambitions than the rue de Grenelle, with Beauvau or Matignon in the sights. But while the departure of Edouard Philippe leads to a major reshuffle, in the summer of 2020, Emmanuel Macron prefers Gérald Darmanin to the Interior.
What happened so that the “macronie’s favorite” see his rise slowed down three years after entering government? The turning point dates back to 2021. The protege of the Macron couple finds himself in the crosshairs of the teaching world and the opposition in a few weeks. The Minister of Education, who had until then rather well contained the criticisms relating to his various reforms, is being caught up in the health crisis. Faced with the virulence of the Covid-19 epidemic, the government decided to confine the country and therefore to close schools from March 2020.
Very quickly, Jean-Michel Blanquer campaigned, against all odds, for their reopening in the name of “the fight against inequalities in access to education”. As a fine tactician, the former rector of the Créteil academy wins his case with the Head of State. In May, schools, then colleges and high schools reopen their doors. “Open School”, Jean-Michel Blanquer even makes it his slogan and he manages to unite around him many political supporters in the majority.
“It is to him that we owe the maintenance of schools open and educational continuity for our children. He held firm and today we are one of the countries which has closed its schools the least in the world. “
Anne Brugnera, LREM MP and member of the Education Committee at the National Assemblyat franceinfo
But faced with the powerful Omicron wave and the explosion of contamination in classes at the end of 2021, this strategy of keeping schools open is no longer necessarily viewed favorably by teachers and parents, many of them requesting the postponement of the return to school on January 3. Three negative tests to be carried out in four days so that each child can physically remain in class: Jean-Michel Blanquer’s new health protocol does not pass. It is very constraining and revealed in The Parisian at the last minute. Some see it more as a provocation by the minister than a real solution to ensure the smooth running of the courses.
“The President of the Republic told Jean-Michel Blanquer that he still agreed to leave the schools open, but on condition that the health protocol is irreproachable. It is clear that this was not the case. early January.”
A framework of macronieat franceinfo
To calm things down, it was Prime Minister Jean Castex who provided after-sales service by presenting a new health protocol, two days later on the France 2 set. Interviewed by a teacher during an interview organized by The Parisian, Emmanuel Macron even publicly disavows Jean-Michel Blanquer: “You’re right, I’m giving you the point. We need more anticipation.”
In parallel with the health crisis, Jean-Michel Blanquer is also strongly criticized for his hard line on secularism and his relentless fight against “wokism”, this concept born in the United States which refers in particular to various struggles for equal rights. “Jean-Michel Blanquer is a little soldier of macronist liberalism. He is a technician coupled with an ideologue. What is serious is not the announcement of the health protocol from Ibiza, it is his five catastrophic years in the head of the ministry, tackle Cédric Van Styvendael, socialist mayor of Villeurbanne (Rhône) and in charge of the education program for Anne Hidalgo.
A positioning that is too divisive on certain subjects which could explain the recent spat with Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, himself a former socialist deputy. “The two ministers caught each other because Jean-Michel Blanquer has the feeling of being the scapegoat for this failed return to school and of not being supported by his colleagues in the government. But behind all that, there are also political differences. between him and the ex-socialists in the government”, confides to franceinfo a deputy of the presidential majority.
But the support of the Minister of Education – who did not respond to our requests – also evokes “jealousy” of certain members of the government vis-à-vis Jean-Michel Blanquer. The reason ? In office since the start of the five-year term, the former director of Essec broke the longevity record for a Minister of National Education under the Fifth Republic.
“Never has a Minister of Education stayed five years in office. This has the gift of irritating archaisms, communitarianisms and corporatisms, but also necessarily his little colleagues in the government.”
François Patriat, president of the LREM group in the Senateat franceinfo
Less than two months before the first round of the presidential election, criticism of Jean-Michel Blanquer also weakens Emmanuel Macron. But the Minister of Education has a major asset to remain in office until the end of the five-year term: Brigitte Macron. It was she who whispered her name to the future president, the day before his declaration of candidacy in November 2016. “under intellectual charm” by Jean-Michel Blanquer, who came at the time to sell his book The school of tomorrow in the Europe 1 studio, the First Lady continues to stubbornly defend the minister.
But according to information from franceinfo, Emmanuel Macron, who would not have “not appreciated at all” the short break of his minister under the winter sun of Ibiza, could well mark the end of their collaboration in the event of re-election at the end of April. According to the support of Jean-Michel Blanquer, two options are now available to him: a hypothetical candidacy for the legislative elections or a return to his academic life with the publication of several works. “I have heard of a constituency perhaps on the side of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, but by June, anything can still happen. Jean-Michel is capable of anything”, quips a macronist tenor.