National Education Minister Édouard Geffray stated on Monday that the raising of the colors announced in Nice schools cannot be decided by a municipality. Éric Ciotti had contacted the regional education authority on Saturday to try to build a scheme with the National Education Ministry.
The project to raise the colors in Nice schools is facing government opposition. The Education Minister Édouard Geffray warned on Monday that the initiative carried by Éric Ciotti could not « find any beginning of implementation » without intervention from the National Education Ministry. The minister spoke at the end of the Cabinet meeting. A position taken two days after Éric Ciotti sent a letter to the Nice regional education authority.
The mayor of Nice wishes to organize, each week, a raising of the colors accompanied by La Marseillaise in the city’s schools. An announcement that had been made Friday during a press conference devoted to the school year: « Starting this school year and until the All Saints’ holidays, we will install a tricolor flag pole in each school courtyard. » The municipality now plans to equip 89 Nice schools with flag poles and tricolor flags upon return from the All Saints’ holidays.
Éric Ciotti wants to build the scheme with the regional education authority
On Saturday, Éric Ciotti sent a letter to the rector. The president of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis defends an approach based on consultation with the National Education Ministry and educational teams: « After an initial exchange took place with the rector through my chief of staff, I wrote to him so that we could build together the methods allowing us to organize the raising of the colors in our schools. »
In this letter, Éric Ciotti also recalls his commitment in favor of the presence of republican symbols in educational establishments. The mayor of Nice notably cites the Education Code and the provisions relating to the tricolor flag.
The letter also refers to an amendment introduced in 2019, when Éric Ciotti was a deputy, concerning the display of the words of La Marseillaise and French and European flags in classrooms.
For the mayor of Nice, the raising of the colors must go beyond the ceremonial framework: « This is not intended to be merely a ceremonial gesture, but to be part of a genuine educational approach allowing students to better understand the significance of our flag, the values it embodies and the shared history to which it connects us. »
Éric Ciotti notably proposes to work with the regional education authority on the basis of Article L. 216-1 of the Education Code. This provision allows municipalities to organize certain complementary educational, sports or cultural activities in establishments, subject to the agreement of the competent authorities.
A meeting with the new rector of the Nice academy, Emmanuel Roux, is planned for September 7. Éric Ciotti hopes that this meeting will make it possible to define the modalities of the scheme and a consultation method with school principals, teachers and school councils.
But the National Education Minister set a clear limit on Monday. « In the word National Education, there is the word national. That means the framework is set by the National Education Ministry, so it is not up to the mayor to decide what happens pedagogically in a school. »
Édouard Geffray then clarified his position. « It is not up to the mayor, in this case, to decide any raising of the colors that would take place in the presence of all students, neither once a week, nor once a month, nor once a day. »
The minister therefore believes that the implementation of such a ceremony in schools is not a municipal decision. « I do not see how it could find any beginning of implementation without there being an order from the minister who, in this case, is not intended to intervene. »
The government does recall, however, that a new meeting around republican symbols must be organized in educational establishments. Starting this year, students from CM1 to senior year must participate in an annual commemorative ceremony around November 11, in tribute to those « Died for France. »
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