Emmanuel Roux, the rector of the Nice academy, held his first press conference dedicated to the new 2026 school year. The discussions particularly focused on the challenges of demographic decline in the territory and teaching in the digital age.
Recently appointed, Emmanuel Roux has taken the helm of the Rectorate of the Nice academy with the desire to continue the work carried out by his predecessor, Natacha Chicot. During his first press conference, the representative of the Ministry of National Education stated that he did not want to “roll out a catalog of new measures, but rather to ensure that everything that has been decided is implemented.”
The rector advocates a pragmatic approach facing a complex academy with different geographical realities, but whose requirements for success remain the same. “I will go out into the field and visit the establishments, I already have a very busy schedule in the coming weeks,” he explained.
The roadmap continues the momentum initiated by the Ministry of National Education: protect students from sexual and gender-based violence while also uniting the educational community around peaceful and inclusive relationships. During the conference, the rector emphasized prevention of demographic decline and the need to improve and protect education in the age of digital transformation.
Anticipating demographic decline
By 2035, the education system is expected to lose 1.7 million students compared to the 2025 school year. For Emmanuel Roux, “this is not just a budgetary issue, there is also a major sociological question, namely whether a school remains open in a village.”
The Minister of National Education, Édouard Geffray, announced last Tuesday his desire to implement multi-year monitoring of demographic decline. The rector of the Nice academy considered this monitoring as a way to “project ourselves over time, to plan and avoid decisions falling abruptly, three months before class closure.”
To anticipate this decline in student numbers, the ministry tested in April, in eighteen academies, a scheme aimed at adapting the distribution of resources to local realities. The principle is to allow local actors and elected officials to reflect on the organization of establishments. This scheme will apply to all academies from January 2027.
The Nice academy rectorate is counting on regular consultation with local elected officials and education stakeholders, supporting and advising them. Emmanuel Roux assured that “we will not wait until the 2027 school year to begin this work, it must start now.”
The idea is to move away from the logic associating demographic decline with class closures. “We are in a logic of improving the quality of education at the heart of territories. Every student, whether from the center of Nice, Toulon or a rural village, must have access to the same quality of education,” assured Emmanuel Roux.
This reorganization could result in thoughtful pedagogical regroupings, that is, by grouping students into homogeneous class groups, or by dividing student numbers to ensure the quality of education.
The challenge of critical thinking in the digital age
Facing new technological challenges, Emmanuel Roux mentioned the importance of returning to fundamentals, particularly with reading, writing, and vocabulary enrichment: “this is the primary determinant of success.”
When discussing devices for learning scientific and mathematical reasoning, the rector emphasized the value of logical reasoning while reflecting on long-term thinking. Faced with the emergence of artificial intelligence, the representative of the Ministry of National Education highlighted “this temptation of immediate obviousness.” In his view, “we must learn not to delegate or give our thinking to the machine that thinks in our place.”
With the aim of protecting students from digital dependency, Emmanuel Roux referred to the strict prohibition of mobile phones in high schools, starting from September 1st, 2026, subject to exceptions.
Established by the law of August 24th, this measure is merely an extension of a provision dating back to 2018 in middle schools. “This is the first time that a generation of students will be able to complete their entire school journey (from kindergarten to the baccalauréat, Editor’s note) without a mobile phone in educational establishments,” expressed the rector of the Nice academy.
Establishments will have autonomy in implementing this measure, since the rectorate will not impose any purchase of specific equipment.
This prohibition must be accompanied by the rollout of collective activities to encourage interactions between students. For the rector, it is essential to “reduce students’ screen time exposure.” Nevertheless, the objective remains to guide students toward responsible use of digital technology, while preserving their critical thinking.
NicePremium is a free, independent local news outlet.
Help us keep going by supporting our work from €5 per month.
