World News: Ministry of Education Allots Only Two Hours to Address Safety Concerns

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Monday, 16 October 2023 10:58

Written by Olivier Longhi

The tragedy that occurred at the Lycée Gambetta, in Arras, where Dominique Bernard, a teacher was killed by a radicalized individual, has revived the debate on the protection of teachers in the exercise of their duties.

Two hours of exchanges and discussions, this is what the Ministry of National Education granted to middle and high school teachers a few days after the death of Dominique Bernard, a literature teacher, in Arras. The intention, laudable and ultimately welcome, will have allowed the educational community to carry out a form of recollection in memory of their departed colleagues, because it is also appropriate to honor the memory of Samuel Paty, who died three years ago in circumstances of similar origins.

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But beyond this speaking time, the question clearly arises: what measures should be taken now to prevent such tragedies from happening again? The Republican School, targeted because it embodies the struggle of knowledge against obscurantism, is proving to be on the front line in a fragmented and disoriented society, hence its porosity to extremist discourse and acts of terrorist violence.

Free Will

Based on this observation, it also seems illusory to believe that the tools wielded by teachers, such as citizenship training, the transmission of knowledge and knowledge, the construction of the individual through the learning of free will and freedom of thought, are today sufficient to ward off the blows of fanatical individuals, who are obviously impervious to a discourse nourished by tolerance and respect for difference.

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The work that lies ahead to protect teachers and the republican principles they uphold is therefore immense, and it must be noted that for the time being, apart from two hours of exchanges, nothing concrete has been proposed.

The reaction of the institution and the State as a whole has been slow to come, even though teachers and the educational community have been warning for decades about the multiple attacks on the function.

Verbal and sometimes physical violence, generalized contempt, or in the process of being disregarded, for the function by students and parents, at least for some.

Not to mention the recurrent attacks on secularism, which are multiplying almost at will. Long seen as a space spared from the spasms of society, and this in an idealized vision of school, it appears that the school is in reality only a microcosm of the ills of a civilization eaten away by individualism, mediocrity and the floods of multiple and varied aberrations conveyed by the Internet and social networks.

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Place in Society

Attacked in its pedagogical mission, the school is also a victim of the mistakes of a society today incapable of uniting in the face of counter-models that call for its destruction. So, what should we do?

Well, as a first step, perhaps it would be wise to give teachers their rightful place in society. To begin with, they must be recognized as those responsible for training future generations, while ceasing to perceive them as employees of an agency called National Education.

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Secondly, to raise the profile of the function, not only from a salary point of view, but also from a social point of view, without falling into an excess with devastating effects. These are all avenues of reflection that the Ministry could put into practice as soon as possible because time is of the essence.

The profession is becoming increasingly less attractive and recent events are likely to reduce the few candidates for the position. And it's not two more hours of trading that will turn the tide or stem the potential dramas to come or address the immediate reforms necessary to rehabilitate a profession that has been devalued, even despised.

Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.