This is one of the most disputed provisions, at least the most discussed of the bill against separatism – renamed the bill “consolidating the republican principles” – which will be presented Wednesday, December 9 in the Council of Ministers. At the beginning of October, during his speech in Mureaux (Yvelines), Emmanuel Macron expressed his desire to make school compulsory from the age of 3, and thus reduce family education to the strict minimum – except in the event of illness – to prevent children from ending up outside the system from an early age. The measure caused an outcry among several parent associations, while in France, 50,000 children of school age are officially receiving home education. A figure on the increase, and in trompe-l’oeil, according to the government, since it would hide a not insignificant part of children placed in confessional or clandestine structures which would contravene the laws of the Republic.
More exceptions to the rule than initially expected
Except that after the reservations expressed last week by the Council of State, in its draft opinion that Le Parisien – Today in France had unveiled, Emmanuel Macron had to resolve to backtrack. At least to take back his copy. According to our information, if the decision to make school compulsory from 3 years old will remain in the final text presented to the Council of Ministers and mentioned in article 18, the exceptional measures as drafted will be extended beyond the simple cases concerning sick children.
“The text is currently in the hands of the Ministry of National Education and Jean-Michel Blanquer. We take it into account taking into account the observations made by the Council of State, because it is not a question of ending up with a legal problem on such an important point, ”admits a close friend of the president. At the end of the week, the Wise Men actually believed that the government, if it kept the bill in its initial version, would take the risk of seeing it subsequently challenged before the Constitutional Council. The reason ? “It has not been established, in particular, that the parents’ motives are significantly related to a desire for social separatism or a challenge to the values of the Republic. Under these conditions, the transition from a regime of framed and controlled freedom to a regime of prohibition does not seem sufficiently justified and proportionate ”, specified the Council of State.
Avoid a risk of unconstitutionality
“For families who offer the guarantee of home education, and who do not present a risk of radicalization, the constraint should be lifted,” says a ministerial adviser. What Emmanuel Macron already suggested on Friday during his interview with Brut: “It is necessary that the good exceptions which correspond to the situations that people live and which correspond to a legitimate freedom, in accordance with the values of the Republic, can continue to be made He had explained. While recalling that its intention is first of all to legislate against “these groups, these associations which have an ideology and which in the name of this ideology want to leave the Republic, in particular to separate young people”.
By rewriting part of article 18, the Elysee hopes to put out the fire and above all to avoid a risk of unconstitutionality which would necessarily sign a scathing setback. Unthinkable for the president who made this bill one of the major texts of his end of his five-year term.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
