a day ago
To tackle abuses in French schools, state oversight must be strengthened
After decades of silence, the extent of violence perpetrated by adults against schoolchildren, under the guise of educational authority and sheltered within institutions shielded from outside scrutiny, has finally been revealed. Every year, thousands of children have fallen victim to these serious and institutionalized abuses, some of which are old, but not yet a thing of the past.
The first achievement of the parliamentary inquiry's report on "methods of state oversight and the prevention of violence in schools," released on Wednesday, July 2, is to break this long and terrible code of silence. The voices of victims, expressed through hundreds of testimonies, were finally heard in all their gravity, revealing the immense suffering inflicted and the lives shattered. "Sexual violence behind the too-thick walls of a classroom, the silence of the night in boarding schools. Physical violence (...) of absolute sadism," summarized the committee's chair, Socialist MP Fatiha Keloua-Hachi. Following the surge of the MeToo movement, campaigns against incest and sexual abuse within the Church, schools now face their own reckoning.
The scale of this reality – at last revealed and debated – and the pressing need to find solutions put into perspective any political maneuvering that may have motivated the committee's leaders. Specifically, Paul Vannier, the co-rapporteur from the radical left party La France Insoumise, who sought to bring down Prime Minister François Bayrou, accusing him of "lying" about his knowledge of the abuse in the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram Catholic school scandal. What matters most now is implementing the MPs' proposals. No one would understand if the intense and turbulent political context were to hinder the essential reforms needed to put an end to the "unthinkable."
Part of these changes lies in the need for the state to exercise better oversight of schools, especially private schools under contract with the state, which receive three-quarters of their funding from public money and are a central focus of the MPs' report. The "distinctive character" legally recognized for these primary, middle and high schools cannot exempt them from external scrutiny when it comes to protecting children.
It is urgent, as the report suggests, to end the unjustifiable exception that allows private schools to be managed by the Financial Directorate of the Ministry of Education rather than, as with public schools, by the General Directorate for School Education. Similarly, general inspectors of education must be granted the power to initiate investigations on their own, which they currently lack, to ensure their independence from political authority. The question of compensation also needs to be addressed. Within schools, a reporting system that protects staff from pressure needs to be established, and students must be informed of their rights.
The "Let's break the silence" plan, launched in March by Education Minister Elisabeth Borne, which makes reporting violence mandatory in private schools under contract, extends questionnaires to boarders and students on school trips, and strengthens inspections, is a good start. But the cross-party observations made by the MPs is clear: The scourge of violence stems from structural failings needs urgent solutions.
