Editorial. The construction sites of Pap Ndiaye

It’s not always easy to decode macronism, this ideology of “at the same time”, one of the mainsprings of which is to be where you are not expected. This is the case with the appointment as head of the Ministry of Education of Pap Ndiaye, a rare “disruptive” spark, to use a term dear to the president, of the new government. This historian specializing in minorities crystallizes since his appointment the attacks of the far right, which sees in him a “communitarian”, an “indigenous”, at the antipodes of Jean-Michel Blanquer and his positions against “Islamo- leftism”. The load is caricatural. Pap Ndiaye, if he has in the past supported the black cause and fought racism, does not deserve such a witchcraft trial, with strong xenophobic overtones. It is obvious that the profile of the new minister, whose first gesture was to meet the colleagues of Samuel Paty, is very different from that of his predecessor. While waiting to see him at work, his first quality, from the point of view of the majority, is to rather please the unions, which Jean-Michel Blanquer had ended up alienating himself by dint of chaining reforms and protocols sanitary. Displaying a left-wing sensibility, being a pure product of the social ladder and being popular in the teachers’ room will not, however, be enough to make a good minister. The “mammoth” of National Education is a monster difficult to move. Not mastering the codes of administration has often been a hindrance for ministers from civil society. From recruitment to the reform of the vocational high school through the place of maths, the projects awaiting Pap Ndiaye are numerous. Beyond that, the challenge is to make the republican school more egalitarian for students and more attractive for teachers. It is on this alone, on his action, that it will be permitted to judge him.