"It's called closing schools": Catholic education denounces "a declaration of war" after deputies' removal of credits granted to private schools

The national body responsible for the management of Catholic education is alarmed this Friday by the elimination of credits intended for private education under contract during the examination of the finance bill (PLF) for 2027 and calls on the government to maintain its funding. “On October 29, the Finance Committee of the National Assembly withdrew 8.99 billion euros from the program which finances private education under contract. This program has 8.94 billion.

Nothing remains; there is even a shortage of 53 million", states the federation of Catholic education management organizations (Fnogec) in a press release. For the 2.1 million students educated in the 7,500 Catholic establishments under contract, which represent 96% of the private sector under contract, "this is called the closure of schools", continues the text.

According to Fnogec, if these credit cuts were confirmed, the approximately 130,000 teachers in the 7,500 Catholic schools under contract, which represent 96% of private schools under contract, could no longer be paid.

“Either families agree to pay teachers out of their own pockets, or we take the 2.1 million children from private Catholic schools and bring them back to public schools, telling them to fend for themselves,” criticized the president of Fnogec, Pierre-Vincent Guéret, to AFP. “Declaration of war” The manager also believes that this perspective is “absolutely contrary to the organization of contract education, to the freedom of education which is constitutional”. “We could see a certain number of speeches coming up, but never to this extent.

What was a slogan has become a vote," he continues. "For me, it's called a declaration of war," he adds. Adopted by the deputies, the France Insoumise amendment to increase teachers' remuneration by 20% alone removes 8.3 billion euros from private education credits. "We don't build public schools by wiping our feet on private schools which participate in the public education service.

Let the government say it today: none of these deductions will appear in the Nation's budget", urges Pierre-Vincent Guéret. "We will not let this happen", he assures. The measure is obviously not final since it is only a question of the examination in committee.

The text must still be examined in public session at the National Assembly, but in any case, the draft budget has little chance of being adopted by a vote of deputies in the absence of a majority. If the first part of the text, devoted to revenue, was rejected, deputies would not debate the expenditure section. And the legislative path could end with adoption of the government's copy by 49.

Machine-translated from French