Monitor

All the News of the World French assessment of Allegre's education reforms

Thursday 22 October 1998 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

IT WASN'T the politicians, or union leaders or intellectuals, who defined the problems, but those who were principally involved and directly affected: the students themselves. It is now up to the politicians, the union leaders and the intellectuals to resolve the problem. A protest this massive cannot be fobbed off with a few easy administrative tweaks; these will make sense only if they organise, or at least enable the change of, an education system whose principal aim must not be to pass down the law, but should rather be to help the pupils to acquire, in particular through knowledge and learning, a capacity to act with autonomy in a world where disorder will menace them.

Le Monde

THE STUDENTS haven't lost: their demands were listened to, their movement was legitimised and the most shocking situations are going to be looked into. The consequence of all of this, as we can well see, is that the proposed reforms will in fact be put in place. On one point, at least, those who are anti-Allegre are in the right - if the reduction in teaching time leads to the pretence of support and a lacklustre lesson structure, everyone will have lost. It is important that we pay attention to this factor. It is vital that we make sure that the time freed up by the changes is spent effectively on pastoral care in favour of the children who are most disadvantaged by their family situation.

Liberation

FRANcOIS BAYROU, former minister for education, has accused his successor, Allegre, of destroying the national education system. Destroying, no less. At the root of the entire affair lies Allegre's one motivation - the credo because of which the most fantastic of budgets, the most justified of protest marches and the most suitable of reforms will always be useless. Education will never again find its mobility of reaction and ease of intervention. The stubborn minister's idea is the decentralisation of teacher assignments. He is an eruptive minister who is making his left- wing supporters - those who usually support teaching unions - swallow his structural reform.

Le Figaro

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in