“A Minister of National Education has room for action under the Fifth Republic”
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On wonders about the possibility of action specific to the new Minister of National Education and Youth Pap Ndiaye, while the strong presence of the President of the Republic is exercised. The history of school policies conducted under the Ve Republic shows that when the circumstances are right and when the Minister of National Education in place has the ambition and the determination, the latter can carry out an educational policy which is not limited – far from it – to the execution of a policy defined and decided at the Elysée.
Yes, a Minister of National Education has room for action under the Ve Republic. And this from the outset, under the very presidency of Charles de Gaulle. For example, as historian Bruno Poucet has shown, “Quite quickly – he has been a minister since December 7, 1963 – Christian Fouchet marked his distance from government orientations, since, contrary to the President of the Republic and the head of government Georges Pompidou, he promoted the need for a significant increase the number of students in the years to come: 800,000 in 1970 against 500,000 planned in the Plan” (Charles de Gaulle and the youth, Plon, 2014). Yet it is precisely this objective that has in fact been achieved.
After the turmoil of May-June 1968, it was the highly innovative project of Edgar Faure called to head the Ministry of National Education that imposed itself on General de Gaulle: “The President of the Republic inquired to know where I had come to; I had my file with me, and I read my text; he approved the essentials” (what i believeGrasset, 1971).
An independent minister
For the long duration of the period when François Mitterrand was President of the Republic, we can rely on the confidence he made shortly before his death to one of his close collaborators in the matter: “I took care to appoint at the head of the Ministry of National Education three leading politicians, three statesmen: Alain Savary, Jean-Pierre Chevènement and Lionel Jospin. Each of them pursued a different policy. But none really convinced me. »
Sometimes, the Minister of National Education does not hesitate to “make resistance” in relation to certain orientations that are nevertheless well known to the Head of State. We can cite, for example, Olivier Guichard. As we know, Georges Pompidou was very hostile to Edgar Faure’s abolition of the teaching of Latin in sixth and fifth grade decided in 1968, and he had spoken publicly for his recovery.
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