School Education in France as a Tool for “Reinforcing the Principles of the Republic”: Renewing Traditions

The article analyzes the role of school education in the context of the origin and subsequent evolution of French political republicanism, which was implemented in the form of “France-republic” or “nation-republic”. As noted in the article, the need to achieve the homogeneity of the nation at the political-right level in the conditions of the heterogeneous French society in reality brought to the fore the topic of the formation of a republican political culture cemented by the principle of secularism. One of the most significant areas of application of the principle of secularism, laid down in the foundation of the French republican tradition, was school education. Through various cases, both historical and modern, the article defines the French specifics of the use of the school as a tool for asserting republican values and maintaining the cultural homogeneity of the republican polity. Noting that since the 1789 French Revolution, the issue of school education in France has been politicized, the author of the article demonstrates how this problem has become an important element of sociopolitical discussions in the format of speeches, reports and journalistic texts (for example, the projects of Ch. M. de Talleyrand, N. de Condorcet, E. J. Sieyes, etc.), and in the practical plane was formalized in various constitutional and legislative acts. It is emphasized that the top of the legislative process in this area was the “laws of J. Ferry”, who is rightly considered the architect and creator of the French “republican school”. Thus, the foundations were laid and the most important principles of the organization of education - universal, secular, free of charge, etc. - on French soil were formulated, as well as the tasks of the education system as an important sphere of state structure designed to form and reinforce the public virtues of French citizens. Within the framework of the republican tradition, the organization of school education is declared an obligation and duty of the state to its citizens. Special attention is paid to the new draft bill “Reinforcing Republican Principles”, which was initiated in 2020 by French President Emmanuel Macron with the aim of reconstructing the “republican order” and protecting one of the most important republican values - the principle of secularism. It is concluded that, at the present stage in France, one can observe the reactualization of the tradition of protecting republican values through school. The school system is used as a tool of “reinforcing republican principles”, but is undergoing reform to adapt to the new challenges of national identity.

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