As part of a national tribute in schools to teachers Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard, killed by Islamist terrorists, Lyon high schools organized a moment of meditation and reading of texts.
A ceremony and a minute of silence to never forget. The memory of teachers Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard, both assassinated by radicalized Islamists in 2020 and 2023, was at the heart of the tributes paid in French schools this Monday, October 14.
At the Charles-Mérieux high school, in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon, the minister responsible for academic success Alexandre Portier was present for the tribute, and estimated that the two murdered teachers “were the most precious thing the school has” .
Importance of “core values”
High point of the ceremony: the reading of a text by Albert Camus, a letter written to his teacher when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, and in which he thanks him for having taught him so much.
“It was really an honor to read this text which has a special meaning,” shares Lucas, a 15-year-old high school student.
A letter full of meaning for this day of national tribute, to honor the values of secularism. “It is a moving text (…) and which also shows that despite the glory that we can obtain, the fundamental values of school, secularism, and of course freedom, equality and fraternity , are central”, estimates Willem Hardoin, literature teacher at Charles Mérieux high school.
This week, a time for reflection and analysis with the students in connection with these tributes will be organized within the establishment.
“All establishments are open to attack”
On the set of BFM Lyon, Damien Coursodon, the principal of the Edouard-Herriot high school, where Samuel Paty was a high school student, explained that the minute of silence organized in his establishment also went “very well” and that it was “imbued with a lot of serenity, a lot of contemplation”.
Despite everything, the fear that terrorism will strike again in a school establishment continues: “All establishments are open to attack (…), we must ensure security, every day, by controlling our access, by adding video surveillance” , explains the principal.
