The new Minister of National Education has been criticized since the revelation of the private schooling of her three children.
“We got fed up, like hundreds of thousands of families.” Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the new Minister of National Education, found herself at the heart of the first controversy to blow over Gabriel Attal’s government, Friday January 12, after Mediapart revealed that she had transferred her three children from public to private. “My husband and I (…) saw lots of hours that were not seriously replaced”she justified.
The minister’s children now attend the Stanislas school group in Paris. Franceinfo presents this prestigious Catholic establishment under contract with the State, located rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.
One of the best French establishments
The school group founded in 1804 appears “regularly at the top of the rankings of the best schools”according to the newspaper The cross. Nationally, it is placed in second place in the 2023 rankings of Figaro, behind Louis-le-Grand and in front of Henri-IV. The establishment has a baccalaureate success rate of 100%… with 100% mentions. The school year costs 2,027 euros for elementary school, 2,238 euros for middle school and 2,561 euros for high school, according to the prices displayed on the Stanislas.fr website.
Stanislas counts among his former students very well-known personalities such as General Charles de Gaulle, the stylist Christian Dior, the manager and billionaire François-Henri Pinault, the industrialist Martin Bouygues, the businessman Carlos Ghosn and even the former Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, notes Huffpost. “It’s a factory for elites”summarizes a former teacher in The Parisian.
A Catholic and conservative school group
The private Catholic establishment welcomes some 3,600 students from nursery to preparatory classes. “Our educational mission tends to train the being as a whole, body, soul and spirit”writes Stanislas on his site, listing the “self-relationship”there “relationship with the other” and the “relationship with God”.
“For me, Catholicism is by nature conservative, in the literal sense: it preserves the deposit of faith. The Church is against homosexual union and against abortion, as far as I know, right? A Catholic school cannot say something else”declared the director of Stanislas, Frédéric Gautier, in The world in 2023.
“Stanislas is attentive to the formation of men and women and their emotional construction following their own path”writes the establishment in its internal regulations to explain the fact of having “single-sex classes in colleges”. “This demanding attention excludes any ‘couple’ behavior between students”he emphasizes.
Very strict internal regulations
Correct attire required to enter the establishment. “We wish to encourage Stanislas to wear an outfit whose general line is sobriety, good taste and above all the suitability of the students’ outfit to their age and activity”explains the establishment on its site. “Any clothing that contributes to giving an appearance of carelessness is prohibited.” As such, piercings, jewelry, “trousers that are too tight, pants with holes, torn and/or frayed pants, low-waisted pants, leather or imitation leather pants, leggings and shorts, tank tops, t-shirts, sweatshirts and hooded sweatshirts, overshirts and light tops” are forbidden.
Boys must have hair “short, clean and combed”. But requests specifically addressed to girls are much more numerous. “We ask them to wear a blouse or blouse tucked into the pants. All tops (sweaters, shirts and blouses) must be opaque and fall to the bottom of the hips and not stop at the waistband of the pants. Shoulders are always covered, necklines must be round neck or small V-neck. Skirts and dresses must be opaque and of a decent length”it is detailed.
A middle school accused of homophobia and sexism
The Stanislas group has been targeted since February 2023 by an administrative investigation into accusations of homophobia and sexism, following investigations by Mediapart and The Express. The information site thus revealed “testimonies and supporting documents, the sexist, homophobic and authoritarian universe of the Parisian Stanislas middle and high school”. The media also pointed out “the omnipresent homophobic insults, speakers close to La Manif pour tous demanding ‘chastity’ for homosexual students and members of the Church invited to praise conversion therapies, now prohibited by law”.
In a podcast called “Behind the gates of ‘Stan’, one of the most prestigious high schools in France”the media Brut also pointed out the anti-abortion positions of the establishment and sexist teachings. “The video media also detailed the homophobia of the staff, capable of leading a crusade against students’ pants being pulled up around their ankles or sending a student to the infirmary on the grounds that she was suspected ‘of being a lesbian because’ She had short hair.again cites Mediapart.
The investigation report was submitted in the summer of 2023 to Gabriel Attal when the new Prime Minister was then Minister of National Education, but the document has not yet been made public. It is now in the hands of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.