A member of parliament for French people living outside France, the Macronist elected official had specialized in defense and diplomacy issues in the National Assembly. As soon as she was appointed on Saturday evening, teachers’ unions denounced her illegitimacy.
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Her name was not the one that attracted the most attention when Alexis Kohler, Secretary General of the Elysée, announced the composition of the new government, late Saturday, September 21. But it is nonetheless striking, given her profile and the portfolio she is responsible for: the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) MP Anne Genetet was appointed Minister of National Education in Michel Barnier’s government, replacing Nicole Belloubet.
Until her surprise nomination, this elected official from the presidential camp was best known for her work on defense and diplomacy. Since her election in the 11th constituency of French people living outside France in 2017, she was a member of the National Defense and Armed Forces Committee, of which she was secretary between the 2022 legislative elections and the dissolution of June 2024.
In 2022, Anne Genetet had however indirectly addressed the educational issue, by being rapporteur in the National Assembly of the proposed law “aimed at developing the governance of the Agency for French Education Abroad and creating regional training institutes”. “It didn’t seem to me that she was passionate about how our education system works.”Anna Pic, a PS MP and member of the Defense Committee, told AFP after her appointment.
Teachers’ unions were quick to deride her arrival at the head of an exposed ministry, which has experienced a certain form of instability since the re-election of Emmanuel Macron in 2022, with a fourth minister in less than thirty months. She “doesn’t know much, either directly or indirectly, about school and the education systemjudged on franceinfo Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, general secretary of SE-Unsa. This worries us a lot.” For Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU (the most representative union in secondary education), “There is no good point in this profile, it looks like a casting error in view of the stakes for the school”.
“We are being given someone who knows absolutely nothing about National Education, who is clearly there because there was some form of political mischief.”
Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of the Snes-FSU unionto franceinfo
In “anger”Guislaine David, general secretary of SNUipp-FSU, deplored to the AFP the appointment of a “clone of Gabriel Attal to continue the policy initiated” and which displeases the teachers’ unions.
As soon as she was appointed on Saturday evening, the new minister tried to justify her appointment to National Education, which “is part of the president’s private domain”as Emmanuel Macron declared in the summer of 2023. “I’m a public school girl, through and through, from high school to college.”highlighted Anne Genetet to AFP, as if to contrast with Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who had to leave rue de Grenelle in February 2024 due to a controversy over the private education her children received. “I didn’t ask for anything and I didn’t send a CV”she defended herself, highlighting a commitment to “the transmission of knowledge” in his career.
Immediately put under pressure, this “doctor, self-employed and blogger”, as mentionedhas its website up until Sunday morning, must tackle many issues, from teacher remuneration to the labeling of school textbooks, including the question of uniforms in schools and the subject of school diversity. “I want to work on the devaluation of the profession and the loneliness of teachers, as well as on the need for continuing trainingdetailed the 61-year-old parliamentarian. I am well aware of all this.”
Vice-president of the parliamentary group led by Gabriel Attal, Anne Genetet had been wary about the arrival in government of elected members of the Republicans, finally numbering ten. She had called on BFMTV, Friday morning, for a “great vigilance” in the face of the probable appointment of Bruno Retailleau to the Ministry of the Interior. “When I see the positions that Mr Retailleau has taken in the past, (…) I really hope that he will implement Michel Barnier’s policy and not his own.”
“No go”she had also opposed the rumors that made Laurence Garnier the new Minister of the Family. “This government policy sends a terrible signal about the concept of the family. It goes against everything that the French have supported, voted for and supported for many years.”had criticized Anne Genetet on the news channel. Pointed out for her conservative anti-gay marriage positions, Laurence Garnier will not occupy the Ministry of the Family but will nevertheless join the government, in the Consumer Affairs portfolio.
At the Ministry of Education, Anne Genetet will have to deal with Alexandre Portier, in charge of Academic Success and Vocational Education. The LR elected official, conservative and close to Laurent Wauquiez, has defended private education on several occasions and criticized the policy of Pap Ndiaye, who will hold the post from May 2022 to July 2023. “School is now presented as a place that institutionalizes discrimination and that should therefore be transformed to respond to it. However, analyzing everything in terms of domination is a characteristic trait of wokeism.”he had criticized in The JDDin June 2023. In government, the collaboration between Renaissance and LR on educational issues looks set to be complex.