As soon as Gabriel Attal’s government was formed, it came under fire in the form of a fierce controversy surrounding the new minister for education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The press revealed that her children attended Collège Stanislas, one of the most prestigious and conservative private Catholic schools in Paris. The minister’s clumsy defence only made matters worse, and the Collège found itself the target of numerous media attacks.
On 11 January 2024, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who had until then been minister for sport in Élisabeth Borne’s government, was appointed minister for education, making her combine two portfolios. The choice immediately drew criticism, as the Ministry of Education is traditionally considered a heavy ministry to manage, difficult to combine with the Ministry of Sport in the run-up to the Olympic Games being hosted in Paris this summer.
But the press soon seized on another, much juicier, controversy: the revelation that Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and her husband, Frédéric Oudéa, former CEO of the Société Générale banking group, had chosen to send their children to the private Collège Stanislas instead of the state school. This Catholic school is located in Paris’ posh 6th arrondissement and is known as one of the most elitist and most conservative schools in France.
Nihil novi sub sole: for a long time now, successive ministers of education have demonstrated, through educational choices made for themselves or for their offspring, that they no longer have confidence in the schools of the Republic. Gabriel Attal, the previous holder of the title, came from the École Alsacienne, a very select private school—secular this time—located a stone’s throw from Stanislas and known for being home to the sons and daughters of political and entertainment figures. Pap Ndiaye, his predecessor, used to send his children to the same school, in order to offer them, in his words, “a peaceful education”—something that state schools are nowadays hardly able to offer. The phenomenon is not unique to France. It’s common knowledge, here and elsewhere, that progressive elites know how to play the elitism and social isolation card when it comes to their youngsters—while defending the benefits of social diversity in their public discourse.
But this time, the fault in the eyes of progressives and the ‘right-thinking’ world is more serious: Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has chosen not just a private school, but a conservative Catholic one.
With the finger pointed at her, the guilty party compounded her case by putting up a very poor defence. She blamed the absenteeism of the teachers at her son’s state school for her choice of private school. This was a dangerous defence: arriving at the head of one of the most eruptive and demanding ministries, she explained very simply that the civil servants who would henceforth work under her orders were lazy. What better way to communicate a message of goodwill?
The pack of left-wing investigators quickly dismantled her argument. As far as absenteeism is concerned, the little darling boy only attended public nursery school for 6 months, during which time his teacher was never absent.
Mrs. Oudéa went on to point out the ‘proximity’ of the school. Since she lives just behind the Collège Stanislas, it was an obvious choice in practical terms. This undeniable fact does little to conceal the real reason for her choice: Mr. and Mrs. Oudéa, a wealthy family, were quite simply banking on the school environment that would give their children the best chances of success and guarantee the social reproduction of their family model. There’s nothing scandalous about that, but it obviously ruffles the feathers of the teachers’ unions.
Her explanations turned out to be absolutely disastrous for the minister, who was incapable of finding the right words or of taking responsibility for her choices in a coherent manner.
Emmanuel Macron came to her rescue at his press conference on Tuesday, January 16th. He apologised for the minister’s “clumsy” comments and defended the personal choice of the Oudéa parents, who are free to choose the education that suits their children. Such a statement is not without merit from a man who, since coming to power, has made it a point of honour to hinder educational freedoms and has banned homeschooling—even though it is supposed to be a fundamental freedom guaranteed in France by the constitution.
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra is off to a bad start at the Ministry of Education. After such a crisis of legitimacy, she will find it hard to command respect when it comes to imposing reforms and trying to shake up the administration known in France as the ‘mammoth.’ To avoid encountering new storms, she would do well to keep a low profile and let the omnipresent President Macron step up to the plate on high-risk issues, such as the generalisation of uniforms by 2026 announced at his press conference.
The affair could have ended there: just another communication blunder in an era full of them. But in a clever pirouette, the Left chose to spare the minister—temporarily—and to turn the tables on the real culprit: the Collège Stanislas.
Just think. A conservative Catholic school with the motto “Français sans peur, Chrétien sans reproche” (“Be a Frenchman without fear, and a Christian without reproach”), where Mass is celebrated every day by a squad of chaplains in cassocks, cannot survive in the heart of Paris, a socialist paradise, at the beginning of the 21st century. Add to this the fact that Stanislas is renowned for its excellent results, and that, every year, the school supplies large numbers of students to state institutions for higher education such as the École Polytechnique and the Saint-Cyr military academy.
Stanislas, whose illustrious pupils have included the World War I aviator prodigy Georges Guynemer and the young Charles de Gaulle, has been under fire from the Left for some time now. Last year, revelations by the investigative newspaper Mediapart and the magazine L’Express, based on claims by a handful of unscrupulous students and parents, highlighted an allegedly ‘sexist’ and ‘homophobic’ mentality within Stanislas. In particular, the finger was pointed at the separation between girls and boys in adolescence, and at emotional education classes encouraging girls to be modest and boys to have self-control. Clearly proto-fascism.
In any case, a communist member of a regional council obtained permission for an in-depth investigation to be carried out over several months by the French Ministry of Education in order to verify that Stanislas did indeed ‘deserve’ the public subsidies that this establishment, which is private but under an association contract with the State, receives in addition to the families’ enrolment fees.
The results of this investigation, completed a few months ago and initially not intended for publication, have come to light at the height of the Oudéa scandal. The management of Stanislas felt obliged to point out that the school had not been accused of any serious wrongdoing. “The Inspectors General do not confirm the homophobia, sexism and authoritarianism highlighted in press articles,” said the school’s headmaster in a statement. The diocese also came to Stanislas’ defence in a measured statement, pointing out that “no mention has been made of possible sanctions or of any serious irregularity that would put the school in contradiction with its obligations in general, as suggested by certain media.”
This was not enough to convince the master censors from the Left. Paris’ mayor was quick to cry foul and announced with great fanfare that the city was “temporarily” suspending its funding for Stanislas—despite the fact that it is legally obligated to subsidise an establishment under an association contract with the state. The reason given was that Stanislas provided teaching “contrary to the values of the Republic.” Given the way this school operates, we can see that excellence, prestige, hard work, and rigour are not part of the values of the Republic. That’s good to know.
Progressives are determined not to give up. Unfortunately, there is a risk that they will place the prestigious college under close supervision. They will monitor every word spoken by teachers and educational staff and deal the final blow at the slightest deviation.
Since the Revolution, France has known that schools are the key battleground in the struggle between conservatives and progressives. It’s where young people are trained, where they learn to develop a conscience and a sense of duty, and where the faith can be passed on. The war between the two schools of thought has been going on for nearly two hundred years and is not about to end. In the meantime, Madame Amélie Oudéa-Castéra would be wise to make herself inconspicuous.
Sparks Fly Around French Education Minister
French Minister of Education, Sports, and Olympic Games Amélie Oudéa-Castéra leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on January 17, 2024.
Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
As soon as Gabriel Attal’s government was formed, it came under fire in the form of a fierce controversy surrounding the new minister for education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The press revealed that her children attended Collège Stanislas, one of the most prestigious and conservative private Catholic schools in Paris. The minister’s clumsy defence only made matters worse, and the Collège found itself the target of numerous media attacks.
On 11 January 2024, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who had until then been minister for sport in Élisabeth Borne’s government, was appointed minister for education, making her combine two portfolios. The choice immediately drew criticism, as the Ministry of Education is traditionally considered a heavy ministry to manage, difficult to combine with the Ministry of Sport in the run-up to the Olympic Games being hosted in Paris this summer.
But the press soon seized on another, much juicier, controversy: the revelation that Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and her husband, Frédéric Oudéa, former CEO of the Société Générale banking group, had chosen to send their children to the private Collège Stanislas instead of the state school. This Catholic school is located in Paris’ posh 6th arrondissement and is known as one of the most elitist and most conservative schools in France.
Nihil novi sub sole: for a long time now, successive ministers of education have demonstrated, through educational choices made for themselves or for their offspring, that they no longer have confidence in the schools of the Republic. Gabriel Attal, the previous holder of the title, came from the École Alsacienne, a very select private school—secular this time—located a stone’s throw from Stanislas and known for being home to the sons and daughters of political and entertainment figures. Pap Ndiaye, his predecessor, used to send his children to the same school, in order to offer them, in his words, “a peaceful education”—something that state schools are nowadays hardly able to offer. The phenomenon is not unique to France. It’s common knowledge, here and elsewhere, that progressive elites know how to play the elitism and social isolation card when it comes to their youngsters—while defending the benefits of social diversity in their public discourse.
But this time, the fault in the eyes of progressives and the ‘right-thinking’ world is more serious: Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has chosen not just a private school, but a conservative Catholic one.
With the finger pointed at her, the guilty party compounded her case by putting up a very poor defence. She blamed the absenteeism of the teachers at her son’s state school for her choice of private school. This was a dangerous defence: arriving at the head of one of the most eruptive and demanding ministries, she explained very simply that the civil servants who would henceforth work under her orders were lazy. What better way to communicate a message of goodwill?
The pack of left-wing investigators quickly dismantled her argument. As far as absenteeism is concerned, the little darling boy only attended public nursery school for 6 months, during which time his teacher was never absent.
Mrs. Oudéa went on to point out the ‘proximity’ of the school. Since she lives just behind the Collège Stanislas, it was an obvious choice in practical terms. This undeniable fact does little to conceal the real reason for her choice: Mr. and Mrs. Oudéa, a wealthy family, were quite simply banking on the school environment that would give their children the best chances of success and guarantee the social reproduction of their family model. There’s nothing scandalous about that, but it obviously ruffles the feathers of the teachers’ unions.
Her explanations turned out to be absolutely disastrous for the minister, who was incapable of finding the right words or of taking responsibility for her choices in a coherent manner.
Emmanuel Macron came to her rescue at his press conference on Tuesday, January 16th. He apologised for the minister’s “clumsy” comments and defended the personal choice of the Oudéa parents, who are free to choose the education that suits their children. Such a statement is not without merit from a man who, since coming to power, has made it a point of honour to hinder educational freedoms and has banned homeschooling—even though it is supposed to be a fundamental freedom guaranteed in France by the constitution.
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra is off to a bad start at the Ministry of Education. After such a crisis of legitimacy, she will find it hard to command respect when it comes to imposing reforms and trying to shake up the administration known in France as the ‘mammoth.’ To avoid encountering new storms, she would do well to keep a low profile and let the omnipresent President Macron step up to the plate on high-risk issues, such as the generalisation of uniforms by 2026 announced at his press conference.
The affair could have ended there: just another communication blunder in an era full of them. But in a clever pirouette, the Left chose to spare the minister—temporarily—and to turn the tables on the real culprit: the Collège Stanislas.
Just think. A conservative Catholic school with the motto “Français sans peur, Chrétien sans reproche” (“Be a Frenchman without fear, and a Christian without reproach”), where Mass is celebrated every day by a squad of chaplains in cassocks, cannot survive in the heart of Paris, a socialist paradise, at the beginning of the 21st century. Add to this the fact that Stanislas is renowned for its excellent results, and that, every year, the school supplies large numbers of students to state institutions for higher education such as the École Polytechnique and the Saint-Cyr military academy.
Stanislas, whose illustrious pupils have included the World War I aviator prodigy Georges Guynemer and the young Charles de Gaulle, has been under fire from the Left for some time now. Last year, revelations by the investigative newspaper Mediapart and the magazine L’Express, based on claims by a handful of unscrupulous students and parents, highlighted an allegedly ‘sexist’ and ‘homophobic’ mentality within Stanislas. In particular, the finger was pointed at the separation between girls and boys in adolescence, and at emotional education classes encouraging girls to be modest and boys to have self-control. Clearly proto-fascism.
In any case, a communist member of a regional council obtained permission for an in-depth investigation to be carried out over several months by the French Ministry of Education in order to verify that Stanislas did indeed ‘deserve’ the public subsidies that this establishment, which is private but under an association contract with the State, receives in addition to the families’ enrolment fees.
The results of this investigation, completed a few months ago and initially not intended for publication, have come to light at the height of the Oudéa scandal. The management of Stanislas felt obliged to point out that the school had not been accused of any serious wrongdoing. “The Inspectors General do not confirm the homophobia, sexism and authoritarianism highlighted in press articles,” said the school’s headmaster in a statement. The diocese also came to Stanislas’ defence in a measured statement, pointing out that “no mention has been made of possible sanctions or of any serious irregularity that would put the school in contradiction with its obligations in general, as suggested by certain media.”
This was not enough to convince the master censors from the Left. Paris’ mayor was quick to cry foul and announced with great fanfare that the city was “temporarily” suspending its funding for Stanislas—despite the fact that it is legally obligated to subsidise an establishment under an association contract with the state. The reason given was that Stanislas provided teaching “contrary to the values of the Republic.” Given the way this school operates, we can see that excellence, prestige, hard work, and rigour are not part of the values of the Republic. That’s good to know.
Progressives are determined not to give up. Unfortunately, there is a risk that they will place the prestigious college under close supervision. They will monitor every word spoken by teachers and educational staff and deal the final blow at the slightest deviation.
Since the Revolution, France has known that schools are the key battleground in the struggle between conservatives and progressives. It’s where young people are trained, where they learn to develop a conscience and a sense of duty, and where the faith can be passed on. The war between the two schools of thought has been going on for nearly two hundred years and is not about to end. In the meantime, Madame Amélie Oudéa-Castéra would be wise to make herself inconspicuous.
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