Nicole Belloubet calls for the national education budget to be “at least protected” in the next finance bill

The resigning Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet, requested on Tuesday, August 27, that the national education budget be “at least protected” judging that at this stage, the budget project sent by Matignon to his ministry “does not meet all of our needs”.

“The next government will have to pay close attention to this if it wishes to maintain real ambition for this national priority.”declared the minister during her back-to-school press conference. “The ceilings that have been sent to our ministry would force us to be particularly budgetaryly rigorous, especially when we know the impact of a certain number of measures (…) This budget, which at this time does not, in my view, meet all of our needs, is not yet complete.”she added.

Last week, Gabriel Attal sent the following information to the ministries: “ceiling letters” of a 2025 budget project for which he proposes the exact renewal of the total credits, it being up to his successor to put his political stamp on it. The National Education budget is the State’s first budget.

700 million additional savings

Last February, Bercy requested around 700 million in additional savings from national education compared to the budget voted for 2024, which totaled 63.6 billion euros.

The identical renewal of the total credits is successful, according to Matignon which speaks of “reversible budget”to a real saving of some 10 billion euros compared to a budget which would have reflected 2% inflation.

The draft finance bill (PLF) must be submitted to Parliament on 1^is October, after a whole series of examinations and opinions in September (by the High Council of Public Finances, by the Council of State, by the Council of Ministers), and before the discussion in the National Assembly and then in the Senate. The finance law must be published before the following January 1.

Furthermore, Nicole Belloubet announced that she wanted mobile phones to be banned across the board in schools and colleges. “from January 2025”. She also mentioned “an experiment of this digital break from this back-to-school period in 200 colleges.”

The minister also announced that the decree requiring the obtaining of the middle school certificate to access high school was frozen. On the other hand, new arrangements for the 2025 diploma have been made: “They concern the transition from 50-50 to 40-60 to increase the share given to end-of-year exams, all disciplines from 3^e in continuous monitoring and establishment of harmonization commissions”. These measures “were postponed due to current affairs” more “are ready”she assured.

Finally, Nicole Belloubet stressed that the programs “French and maths courses for cycles one and two have been rewritten to be clearer, more detailed and readable.” These new programs “may be published at the end of the current affairs period” et “will come into force at the start of the 2025 school year so that teachers can study them throughout the school year”. As for the organization of general and technological high schools, these will not know “new major reforms apart from adaptations”the minister judging that they are “stabilized”.