Édouard Geffray, Minister of National Education, assured Wednesday on BFMTV/RMC that he had “no echo of moments of tension or refusal on the ground at this stage”. He spoke of his participation in a ceremony Tuesday evening “with college students from Paris, who were very moved and who understood what it was to become a Nation.” “When we pay tribute to those who died for France, we pay tribute to all those who fought so that we were free,” continued the minister.
“Civil Concord requires the appropriation of its history,” he said. »It goes through the recognition of peace and it goes through “knowing the price of peace”.
Commemorating the soldiers who fell for France would be a warlike approach. This is, at least, the opinion of the Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau municipal council. The elected officials of this town of 6,000 inhabitants located on the western outskirts of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) voted, Thursday, October 15, a wish in favor of the repeal of a circular from the Ministry of National Education. The contested text, published on July 2, establishes an annual ceremony of tribute to all the “Died for France” in each elementary school, from CM1, as well as in middle and high schools.
On It expresses our solidarity with those who still bear the wounds of History,” he wrote, a few hours before the flame was rekindled.
He pays tribute to all the soldiers who died for France and to their families: “behind every uniform, there is courage. Behind every sacrifice, a family. Behind each hero, France which remembers.
Teaching unions opposed the commemoration of the armistice of November 11 at schools, established by the Minister of National Education. The High Commissioner for Children, Sarah El Haïry, takes offense, believing on the contrary that the organization of a time dedicated to memory is essential.
“There are silences that transmit more than long speeches. The one we observe every November 11 in front of the war memorials is one of them. (…) I defend the place of children in the commemorations of November 11 and the organization of a time dedicated to memory at school. A nation remains alive when it transmits the reasons for its existence, the memory of its trials and the awareness of what it owes to those who preceded it. To give up this task is to impoverish the heritage entrusted to new generations.”
For Catherine Vautrin, Minister of the Armed Forces, invited this morning on Europe 1/CNews, “one of the foundations of a nation is being able to share common values”. She recalls that November 11 is not only the celebration of the armistice and the commemoration of the soldiers who died during the First World War, but also the “commemoration of all the soldiers who died for our country, in all conflicts, and everywhere in the world”.
She regrets the controversy surrounding the November 11 commemorations at school, believing that “it is a total disrespect of the memory [of the soldiers who died for France]”. “History obliges us” to commemorate all these sacrifices, she maintains. “School is undoubtedly a place for sharing memory,” she says. “We are the bearers of memory,” she adds, “we must allow this youth to take over.”
The controversy in the teaching world surrounding the commemoration at the school of the Armistice of November 11, 1918 is “very regrettable”, judged Wednesday the Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans Alice Rufo. “November 11 is a celebration of peace. I find this controversy to be very regrettable,” she declared on TF1.
A circular published at the beginning of July establishes an annual ceremony “tribute to all those who died for France” for students from CM1 to 12th grade around November 11, in which elected officials or soldiers could participate. Unions have denounced a “militarization” of schools and a risk of political exploitation a few months before the presidential election.
Alice Rufo stressed that far from being an exploitation, November 11 was a “moment of collective belonging” with former soldiers who came to share their testimonies. “It’s superb and it allows these students to work on wonderful themes,” she said, citing in particular women in the resistance or the Senegalese riflemen. “Why deprive ourselves of this transmission?” she finally asked herself.
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the November 11 ceremonies. A final return to the Champs-Elysées for Emmanuel Macron. The President of the Republic is participating for the last time as head of state in the November 11 commemorations on Wednesday. Alongside the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, and several members of the government, he will preside over the ceremony in the capital, culminating in the rekindling of the flame of the Unknown Soldier.
