- Emmanuel Macron was in Mulhouse on Tuesday for an expected speech on "Islamist separatism".
- Among the announcements, the head of state said he wanted to transform the Elco, optional courses in foreign languages.
- This measure, launched in 2016 during the previous five-year period, concerns around 88,000 students (out of a total of 12 million) and less than 1,000 Algerian, Croatian, Spanish, Italian, Moroccan, Portuguese, Serbian, Tunisian and Turkish teachers.
To fight against what he calls "Islamist separatism", Emmanuel Macron unveiled Tuesday evening some measures to curb "foreign influences" on Islam in France. Among his proposals, the president said to remove the Elco, or teaching in languages and culture of foreign origin. These are optional foreign language courses. But this announcement is already problematic.
What are Elco?
Concretely, the acronym designates optional foreign language courses, offered at primary and secondary level for around forty years. Their particularity? They are given by teachers recruited by the authorities of nine countries, Algeria, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey, under "agreements bilateral support on a European directive of July 25, 1977 aiming at the schooling of the children of the migrant workers ”, specifies the site of National education.
Elco are offered from CE1, 1.5 to 3 hours per week, and can be chosen by the student in middle school and then in high school.
Contacted, the Ministry of Education tells us that 88,000 students take these optional courses for the 2019/2020 school year, out of 12.4 million in total, and that less than 1,000 teachers teach them. The objectives are, according to National Education, to "structure the language spoken in the family environment, promote the personal development of young people from other cultures and enhance the diversification of languages at school".
What did Emmanuel Macron say about the Elco?
Why did Emmanuel Macron address these optional courses in his speech devoted to "Islamist separatism"? The president said: "The problem we have today with this device is that we have more and more teachers who do not speak French (…), that we have more and more teachers over which National Education has no regard. "
"We cannot teach things which are manifestly incompatible either with the laws of the Republic or with History as we see it," he added. The Head of State said he wanted to delete these courses, or rather transform them, into Eile, or International teaching in a foreign language. What will change, according to him, is that the teachers will be "teachers whom we will be sure that they master French, that they will be subject to control by the Ministry of National Education, and for whom the programs taught will also be subject to monitoring ”.
But the acronym Eile dates from 2016, when the Minister of Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem had initiated this reform of the Elco. The socialist did not fail to recall it Tuesday, in a few scathing tweets.
Listen to his radio and fall from his chair. Hear the Head of State once again announce the "unprecedented launching of an approach" aiming this time to replace Teachings in original language and culture (ELCO) with International teaching of foreign languages.
- Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (@najatvb) February 18, 2020What does this have to do with "Islamist separatism"?
The link between these Elco, concerning nine different countries, where Islam is not practiced in an identical way by the population, was not explained by Emmanuel Macron. In his speech, he mainly focused on Turkey. “We have managed [to find an Elco deal] with all of these countries except Turkey at this point. I do not despair. "
He attacked Turkey, while the Turkish lessons given in this context "are sometimes politicized," explains an adviser quoted by AFP. The Ministry of National Education specifies at 20 Minutes that 12,500 to 13,000 students were following Elco in Turkish for the 2018/2019 school year, and that 188 Turkish teachers are teaching it in France. Have there been any incidents in particular Elco in Turkish, or others? The ministry does not have the answer to this question, indicating that reports are made at the level of the academies.
What do teachers' unions think about it?
The announcement did not delight. "This speech raises suspicion on these lessons, but it is not a good thing to instrumentalize the school," laments to 20 Minutes Francette Popineau, co-secretary general of SNUipp-FSU, the first union in the primary. "Vigilance over the secularity of Elco teachers, and their courses, already exists, it has been reinforced since 2016", she recalls.
These Elco can be inspected by the National Education Inspectorate, like all other courses. "It should not be suggested that these teachers are freewheeling, they are under the authority of the school head," insists Francette Popineau.
The same cold welcome at SNES-FSU, the first union in secondary school. "It's warmed because the Elco have already been reformed," said Frédérique Rolet, secretary general of the organization. "There is a verification of the skills and the types of pedagogies used," she explains to 20 Minutes. This presidential speech "is a diversion: we still point to certain origins rather than others. The problem is not the Elco, but the causes that can fuel separatism, "she said.
On Franceinfo, national secretary SE-Unsa Rémi Sirvent also nuanced Mulhouse's speech. “I heard the President of the Republic say that National Education had lost control of this device. However, I would like to clarify that this is inaccurate. Elco teachers receive approval from National Education, are members of the teaching team and (…) the school director must ensure that Elco lessons are part of the common foundation ”.
Politics
"Learning Arabic at CP will lead to communitarianism", according to Bruno Le Maire
Society
"With this controversy, we are not promoting the teaching of Arabic for cultural reasons but to fight against a fear"
- Society
- school
- Emmanuel Macron
- Education
- separatists