A holiday that does not pass. While the Omicron variant exploded the number of contaminations in France and threatened the start of the school year in January, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of National Education, was on vacation in Spain, in Ibiza, according to information from Mediapart, confirmed at franceinfo. Here is what we know about these revelations which come in addition to the criticisms concerning the management of the health crisis at school and occur two days before a new day of strike at National Education.
A stay in the sun in a tense context
At the end of December 2021, in the midst of the fifth wave of Covid-19, the number of coronavirus contaminations was counted in the hundreds of thousands per day in France. Enough to undermine the education system, hit hard by thousands of class closures before the end of the year holidays. The start of the school year was announced to be difficult and the health protocol for the start of the school year on January 3, 2022 was therefore eagerly awaited by teachers and parents of students.
In this turbulent period, Jean-Michel Blanquer was on vacation in Ibiza, Spain, learned franceinfo from the Ministry of National Education, Monday, January 17, confirming information from Mediapart. The minister visited the Balearic Islands from December 28 to January 2, the day before the start of the school year. “Just because he wasn’t there doesn’t mean he wasn’t at work, he wasn’t connected and away from what was going on”, defend the minister’s office at franceinfo.
The protocol revealed in an interview
In this tense context, the new health protocol for National Education was finally unveiled in The Parisian, Sunday January 2, at 4.21 p.m., on the eve of the start of the new school year, in the form of an interview with Jean-Michel Blanquer accessible only to subscribers of the Ile-de-France daily. The interview was carried out “by telephone” the day before, Saturday January 1, according to Pierre Chausse, deputy director of the editorial staff of the newspaper.
“The journalists in charge of this interview were unaware that he was in Ibiza at the time. So there was no desire to hide information that we simply did not have”, he said on Twitter, after criticism of the use of the illustration image of the article showing the Minister of National Education in his office in Paris.
The interview with JM Blanquer was carried out on Saturday January 1 remotely, by telephone. The journalists in charge of this interview were unaware that he was in Ibiza at that time. There was therefore no desire to hide information that we simply did not have!
— Pierre Chausse (@MonsieurPierre) January 18, 2022
The new instructions were also posted on the National Education website and their social networks on Sunday January 2 around 6 p.m. Late communication “to be as close as possible to health reality”, had justified Jean-Michel Blanquer the next day on LCI.
The unions and the opposition fulminate
The late publication and in the press of the health protocol for the start of the school year in January had already provoked the anger of many teacher unions and opposition politicians. Two weeks later, the revelations that Jean-Michel Blanquer was on vacation in Ibiza at that time reignited the controversy even more.
“The symbol is terrible”, was indignant Sophie Vénétitay, the general secretary of the Snes-FSU union, on franceinfo. “Of course, everyone has the right to take a vacation, but here we were on the eve of a very special return to school.” “VSThis revelation fuels the fracture and the feeling of contempt that many staff in National Education can have, she continues.
“There is really a gap between what Ibiza represents and what colleagues were experiencing on a daily basis on the eve of the start of the school year. (…) It will inevitably widen even more the gap that already existed between the minister and his staff.”
Guislaine David, SNUipp-FSU spokespersonat franceinfo
Opposition politicians were also outraged after these revelations. “He has the right to vacation, he also has the right to work to ensure that this return to school is not an absolute mess”, castigated the environmental candidate for the presidential election, Yannick Jadot, iInvited Tuesday “4 Truths” on France 2. Same story on the side of the Socialists. “It’s the feeling of the return of ‘bling bling’ at a time when everyone is asked to tighten their belts”, reacted the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, on franceinfo. Several deputies from La France insoumise have called on Jean-Michel Blanquer to resign.
The government defends the minister…
Faced with the controversy over these holidays in Ibiza, the government has united behind its Minister of National Education. “You have to be easily repatriable to Paris, permanently reachable, I have no reason to think that was not the case”, said Gabriel Attal on CNews. The government spokesperson argued that the health protocol had been presented late to take into account the recommendations of the High Council for Public Health, which were issued on December 31 in the afternoon.
“The Minister of National Education has been extremely mobilized and committed for four and a half years. (…) It’s a pre-presidential campaign controversy.”, swept aside Elisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate for Equality between Women and Men, on franceinfo. “I don’t think he should apologize”, added the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, also on franceinfo.
… but voices criticize him behind the scenes
Despite the public defense of his government colleagues, some advisers to the executive have criticized the choice of the Minister of National Education. According to The world, an adviser affirms that Matignon, like part of the entourage of Jean-Michel Blanquer, had advised the minister against leaving for Ibiza in this context of the explosion of the Omicron wave. “In terms of image, Ibiza is a disaster”, believes a leader of the majority.
This new controversy therefore comes on top of the barely veiled criticisms of Emmanuel Macron, a few days earlier, on the late publication of the health protocol. “Rectorates need more anticipation and more time to communicate with schools”, recognized the Head of State, Tuesday, January 4, in an interview with Parisian.