Presented by Deputy Mayor Christian Estrosi at the Bois de Boulogne elementary school, in the Moulins district, this “citizen passport” aims to raise students’ awareness of the values of the Republic, from first grade to fifth grade.
Since the Charlie Hebdo attacks last January, numerous initiatives to promote debate around the values of the republic have been emerging.
This “citizen passport” is original in its form but follows the same goals, as academy inspector Michel-Jean Floc’h recalls: “to remind students of the necessary knowledge to be future citizens, to develop values such as commitment and responsibility, and to impart the principles and values embedded in our country’s constitution.”
Distributed to each student in the school, these educational and playful booklets have been designed to accompany the schoolchildren in their education and thus in their development as citizens. It will allow over 20,500 students each year to engage playfully with the concepts of citizenship and secularity.
These “citizen passports,” applied to all schools in Nice, contain numerous games that blend knowledge with the discovery of new symbols and characters of our Republic, as well as raising awareness of certain themes, like writing a poem following the pattern of Paul Eluard’s “Liberté.”
Measures implemented last January
This passport indeed follows the establishment in late January of civic instruction workshops from first to fifth grade, where children explore, always in a playful manner, the rights and duties of everyone, secularity, the risks associated with internet use, the symbols of the Republic, etc…
The effects of these workshops can be seen here. In the Bois de Boulogne school, numerous posters are plastered on the walls, listing the various human rights, eco-citizen and eco-responsible advice, details on recycling for example, but there is also the Marseillaise, proudly sung in unison by the students, dressed in blocks of blue, white, then red, facing the mayor.
The result of joint work between the City of Nice services and the National Education, this initiative is unique in France but, according to academy inspector Michel-Jean Floc’h, it calls to “be extended to other cities.”
by Baptiste Meline
