Understand everything about the "Avenir lycéen" affair which embarrasses Blanquer

Jean-Michel Blanquer, the 11/12/2020.

-

• On Saturday,

  Liberation

  published a long article asserting that “Avenir lycéen”, created in 2018 and which stood out for its defense of government reforms, had “germinated” in the ministry with the idea of ​​“serving communication” from Jean -Michel Blanquer.

• Mediapart revealed in early November that the high school organization had received 65,000 euros in grants in 2019, which it had squandered in part on food costs and luxury hotels.

• A case that embarrasses Jean-Michel Blanquer, even if he said this Sunday that she was born "from nothing".

Have young people been used to serve political communication in the rue de Grenelle?

In any case, this is what 

and Mediapart say about the high school organization “Avenir lycéen”.

A case which agitated the educational community this weekend, and which helps you to disentangle

What suspicions weigh on “Avenir lycéen”?

Saturday,

published a long article affirming that this high school organization, created in 2018, had "germinated" at the ministry with the idea of ​​"serving communication" by Jean-Michel Blanquer.

And above all to act as a counterweight to other high school unions, opposed to its reforms, in particular that of the bac, which had given rise to mobilizations in 2018. Based on numerous testimonies,

affirms as well as the number 2 of the ministry at the time , the director general of school education (Dgesco), Jean-Marc Huart, was closely linked to those in charge of “Avenir lycéen”, and that the rectorates participated in the writing of union press releases, systematically in favor of the reforms of the ministry .

Comments contested in a statement published on Saturday by the co-founder of the association, Nathan Monteux, defending his independence and his right "to carry a voice other than that of the far left trade union".

“No one manipulated us.

At no time has anyone in the Ministry of National Education used our movement, ”he added.

Mediapart revealed at the beginning of November that “Avenir lycéen” had received 65,000 euros in grants in 2019, partly squandered in food costs and luxury hotels.

A drift recognized by Nathan Monteux.

“A drift all the more astonishing as it happened very soon after the creation of the association.

As if these high school students were acting with total impunity, ”comments

Robi Morder, president of the Study and Research Group on Student Movements (Germe)

to

.

Were the subsidies received by this union excessive?

The Ministry of Education allocates grants each year to associations defending the rights of high school students.

The processing of applications is carried out by an office of the General Directorate of School Education (Dgesco).

"They are educated in the light of all the required documents (statutes, accounting documents)", explains the Ministry of Education.

Regarding the award criteria, "the Dgesco has a rating grid for the actions carried out by an association", indicates the rue de Grenelle.

"She regularly questions several academies on the actions carried out, their nature, their scope and their consistency with educational policy", continues the ministry.

“It is above all the association's project that is evaluated.

But as the award criteria are rather vague, it is a bit the prince.

There is a lack of transparency, ”said Robi Morder for his part.

When it was created, “Avenir lycéen” submitted a request for a subsidy of 80,000 euros in January 2019.

The ministry finally granted him an amount of 65,000 euros.

"A new request was made by the association for the year 2020, last January, this time for an amount of 30,000 euros", specifies the ministry.

One request granted.

“The amount of the 2019 grant, for an association that has just been created, may seem high,” says Robi Morder.

But the ministry recalls that the amounts allocated to other organizations have sometimes exceeded this sum: The UNL benefited from 80,000 euros in 2017 and 2018, then 40,000 in 2019 and 20,000 in 2020. The Fidl, it had benefited from a subsidy of 80,000 euros in 2017.

Has the ministry reacted sufficiently to the financial abuses of certain members of the association?

The ministry says it was informed in July 2020 of "financially unacceptable practices" by some members of the union, which has been called to order.

But according to Robi Morder, "the control of the activity report of the association and its use of funds was obviously not rigorous enough at the beginning".

Moreover, it was only after the revelations of Mediapart that the Dgesco carried out an investigation "in order to determine the nature of the association's expenses", the conclusions of which will be known in mid-December.

Did this union really have any weight?

In April 2019, “Avenir lycéen” won 2 out of 4 seats in the elections to the Higher Education Council (CSE), a consultative body called upon to issue opinions on educational policy.

And some of its members have been received at the Ministry of Education, as the tweet below shows.

# AvenirLycéen meets @jmblanquer 🚀

☑️ National Universal Service

☑️ Promotion of the 17 SDGs #DeveloppementDurable @CazenaveSamuel @ Agenda2030FR

☑️ Youth engagement

@NathanMonteux

☑️

High school democracy in private high schools

☑️ CSE proposals @alexia_ddvp.com/ pic.Bt

- Avenir Lycéen (@AvenirLyceen) July 2, 2020

But according to

, the organization does not claim more than 400 members.

And it is clear that it has not been able to impose itself in the public debate.

Very few were the media which gave him the floor, while the spokespersons of other high school unions are regularly interviewed.

And the association's Twitter account has only 1,566 subscribers.

"This organization has a small audience with young people, and therefore may be able to influence them," says Robi Morder.

Even if the suspicions of remote control of this association by the rue de Grenelle were proven, one thing is certain: this communication operation will have been a failure.

“Other governments have tried to get youth associations to support their policies.

But it is done more discreetly, by making concessions to them so that they will remember it later.

If these accusations were founded, it would demonstrate a certain amateurism of the rue de Grenelle, its ignorance of social dialogue and the functioning of youth movements, ”said Robi Morder.

Can this affair harm Jean-Michel Blanquer?

Stung by the front page of

Friday, presenting him as the "black Daron", Jean-Michel Blanquer ended up counter-attacking Sunday on RTL.

"We can see that

and Mediapart are trying to make a deal out of nothing," said the Minister of Education.

Asked whether he or the ministry had used this union, he replied firmly: "Of course not".

It also benefited from the support of 33 LREM deputies, who published a column on the Atlantico site on Monday denouncing a maneuver by the "far left"

aimed at destabilizing Jean-Michel Blanquer.

“You just have high school kids who maybe unexpectedly spent the money they had.

I immediately called for an investigation into this.

It is not more than that ”, affirmed the Minister.

"It is a non-subject, blown up by a sector of the ultra-left", affirms the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, questioned on suspicions of instrumentalization of the union "Avenir Lycéen", revealed by Mediapart and Liberation #AFP pic.twitter.com/JgKWAHt9yV

- Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) November 23, 2020

Still, these accusations provoked a union outcry.

In a statement, Fidl denounced a "total deviation of the trade union cause and an insult to young people".

And the Snes-FSU, the first secondary school organization, called for shedding light on

 revelations which touch on the very foundations of democracy and the values ​​of the Republic

On the other hand,

LFI called for a parliamentary commission of inquiry.

“If this information turns out to be true, Jean-Michel Blanquer will have to answer because he is responsible for what is happening in his ministry.

And that can complicate its relations with the unions, which are already strained, ”explains Robi Morder.

But not to the point of weakening its position within the government.

Society

Outcry after suspicions of instrumentalization of a pro-Blanquer high school union

Politics

Union "Avenir lycéen": "A business from nothing", for Jean-Michel Blanquer

• Mediapart

• Release

• High school

• High school student

• Education

• Society

• Jean-Michel Blanquer