On Friday, commemorative ceremonies for Samuel Paty were held in all French schools. The Ministry of Education recorded no less than 98 incidents during these tributes. Seven pupils have made threats.
On October 16, 2020, history and geography teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded not far from his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) by a terrorist who was shot dead by police shortly afterwards. One year later, on Friday, the Ministry of Education organised a day of remembrance in all schools in the state. 98 incidents were registered, including seven pupils making threats.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer reacted to these incidents on broadcaster France 2 on Saturday morning and was mollified: “There are 60,000 schools in France. Compared to the events after Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan or the minute of silence last year, this is a significant decrease.
“We not only report incidents but also follow them up. Often they are small, medium or large incidents of different types,” he continued. “A student saying something or a student becoming threatening is not the same thing. The second case is a very small minority, we have seven cases. These are all individual cases that we deal with, there is a follow-up.
On Saturday, a commemorative plaque in honour of Samuel Paty was unveiled in front of the Ministry of Education in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Castex. The family of the murdered teacher was also hosted by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. In addition, a Samuel Paty Square will be inaugurated in front of the Sorbonne in Paris.
