Precisely a week after appointing the youngest prime minister in his country's history, French President Emmanuel Macron has claimed that reviving his nation's patriotism and sense of civic responsibility will be his new government's top priorities.
In a marathon press conference held on Jan 16 in the grandest of the gilded halls of the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, and lasting for an unprecedented two hours and 20 minutes, Mr Macron called for the "civic rearmament" of France's citizens.
He then unveiled a raft of measures designed to boost the patriotic sentiment and discipline of the younger generation.
The number of weekly tuition hours on civic education will be doubled in all French secondary schools by the middle of 2024.
The teaching of the "grand founding texts" of the French Republic will be made compulsory.
School uniforms - discarded in France half a century ago - will now return; they will be first tested in around 100 French schools in 2024, with a view to introducing them to the entire education system by 2026.
And France's so-called General National Service - a one-month programme of youth work designed to "increase the cohesion of the nation" and currently offered on a voluntary basis will be expanded.
The measures announced by Mr Macron confirmed speculation among observers in Paris that the President intends to shift his new government's priorities to the right of the political spectrum in the hope of combating the National Rally.
Bu hikaye The Straits Times dergisinin January 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Straits Times dergisinin January 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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