By: V4 Agency
National education is suffering because it is driven by an extremely low-level ideology rooted in Marxism. This is the approach on which American political correctness has been based for nearly two decades, teacher and author Anne-Sophie Nogaret has told V4NA. Ms Nogaret wrote several books on how Islamism and communitarianism is weaving a cobweb around France’s education system.
Anne-Sophie Nogaret is a French secondary school teacher of philosophy who worked in the Paris region and countryside for more than a decade. She recently decided to quit teaching and build a new career as an author. She has published two books so far (Du mammouth au Titanic, Français malgré eux), both on a topical issue: the state of French education. Her books describe in detail a dying system laced with elements of Islamism, communitarianism and violence.
In her interview with V4NA, Anne-Sophie Nogaret summerised the state of French education after a professor received death threats in early February for criticising radical Islam, just months after his fellow teacher Samuel Paty was decapitated by an Islamist.
You wrote a rather critical book on the situation of schools in France. What do you think is the main problem in education?
Primarily, the ideological rejection of authority and verticality, that is, hierarchy as the founding principle of an organisation. These values are clearly seen as evil ideas, even though they are the primary conditions of order and education. This is why schools are struggling and suffering from a deliberate lack of selection: the obligatory egalitarianism, according to which all students have an equal right to success, results in a large number of graduates who have no purpose whatsoever. This trend pulls everyone back, teachers and students alike. National education is suffering because it is driven by an extremely low-level ideology rooted in Marxism. It is the same approach on which American political correctness has been based for nearly two decades.
Some teachers feel unsafe in the classroom, which sounds quite shocking. What are they afraid of? Are teachers really in danger?
Yes, because they are not defended by their superiors, who are concerned about the threats of lawsuits which parents hurl at school managers and teachers alike. When confronted with malevolent parents who are activists of certain non-profit organisations or simply insane, teachers have every chance of finding themselves on their own in the face of accusations of racism and Islamophobia.
At school, as in other areas of society, the issue of communitarisation often arises. What does this mean in the classroom?
Communitarisation is manifested through very specific signs: a longing for an identity of external origin (for example, in case of people who were born in France but are of Moroccan or Malian descent) and some clear and visible signals of one’s religious affiliation to Islam (headscarf, long skirts, fasting). These factors cause obvious tensions in the communities. The most conspicuous examples of racism in school occur among Arab Muslims and blacks, and Christians or animists from the Antilles and Africa. In some classes, I also experienced the spontaneous separation of boys and girls.
The issue of Islamism came to the fore in connection with Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded in October. Do you think it can happen again?
The assassination of Samuel Paty is an extreme, but predictable consequence of decades of management practice in state education, which focuses not on the teacher, but on the students and – through them – their parents. This system leaves room for extremities. Islamist parents can interfere in school life, as shown by Samuel Paty’s case. The situation hasn’t changed. Take, for instance, the case of philosophy professor Didier Lemaire, who received death threats in the town of Trappes, in Yvelines departement, and has been under police protection since last November. The teacher in question can only rely on police for protection, but if a problem arises, he will be transferred to another institution before he is killed. However, if teachers engaged in secular and republican dialogues give in to threats for the sake of peace, thes are putting their own lives at risk.
Your latest book focuses on racism, decolonisation and indigenism. What does this way of thinking protect? What roots have these conceptions taken in France?
It’s not so much a way of thinking than the actual rhetoric of activists characterised by a single obsession: racial domination imposed by white men. In the view of activists, this domination exists everywhere and manifests itself in all sorts of forms. This domination needs to be rectified and even reversed, with racists demanding power. They see themselves as victims who should be granted exemption from working or taking part in a selective system. This is an ideology imported from the US and promoted by movements that are financed by foundations with ties to George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. In today’s France, this ideology plays a dominant role at universities, higher education institutions, in culture, in primary and secondary education, as well as in the mainstream media. As a result, children speak about ‘systemic racism based on racial discrimination by white people’ as if it was completely self-evident.
As far as education is concerned, do you think there is still hope in France?
Not in public education. The minister can deliver as many speeches about common sense as he wants, but since his speeches have not been followed by action for four years now, the situation continues to deteriorate. Public schools are increasingly like entertainment venues or daycare centres that convey nothing except a sense of general subordination to altruism and multicultural ideologies. In light of the public education sector’s current obligations, a change of government will not be enough to reverse the current tendecy. The contracted private sector, where teachers are paid by the state, is risking to have the same fate in the mid-run, so all we’ll have left is the “uncontracted” private sector, which has everything to arouse the interest of the investors, but this is little reason to feel confident about the future of the French school system.
Whyt types of reforms or measures could change that?
Through entrance exams and the establishment of a special curriculum framework for violent and inactive students, authorities would be able to screen those who apply to high schools or colleges and universities. This could also be applied in technical and vocational schools, as it would help promote good performance both in theory and in practice. Learning could be a possible and attractive alternative for many students if vocational schools were no longer considered places to dump and gather unruly students. The respect and integrity of schools should be restored. Choosing a line of work should not just be based on students’ ideas but also – and primarily – on their actual results, without giving parents the right to appeal. If there is a dispute regarding the gap between students’ ideas about pursuing their studies and their actual knowledge, a simple exam could help to settle the issue.