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French teachers are “devastated” but promise to continue encouraging the “critical spirit” of students without fear of “teaching difficult subjects” to students. “We will continue talking about freedom of expression. If there are sensitive topics, we will continue teaching them ”, guarantees Jean-Rémi Girard, president of the Conseil Supérieur de l’Éducation union.
“We will try to foster the critical spirit of our students and explain to them that everyone has the right to disagree,” said the union leader, before meeting with Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and Prime Minister Jean Castex. “It is scary to see that in 21st century France a teacher can be beheaded in the street for doing his job,” condemns the official.
The shock wave spread to social media, where on Twitter the hashtag #JeSuisProf (I am a teacher) quickly went viral, referring to the popular buzzword “Je Suis Charlie,” which emerged after the January 7 attack . 2015 to the headquarters of the French satirical newspaper.
A colleague of the victim, also on Twitter, wrote: “I am devastated. Samuel Paty was my graduation partner. He was a brilliant student, a super teacher, a man of dialogue. I will mention your name and your example, colleague, to all those who want to continue exercising this beautiful profession ”.
The murder of Samuel Paty, a professor of history and geography in the second cycle, shocked the world. The 47-year-old Frenchman was beheaded this Friday, very close to the institute located in the small town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine where he taught, days after showing his students cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
The cartoons were shown during a mandatory civics and morals class in which Samuel Paty spoke about freedom of speech, but was still careful to allow Muslim students to temporarily leave the room.
“It was so that the students wouldn’t be surprised. The teacher didn’t want to be disrespectful, ”reported the Muslim father of one of the students in the class.
Days before the “typical Islamic terrorist attack,” as Emmanuel Macron described, both the teacher and the school received several threatening phone calls.
The perpetrator of the attack was an 18-year-old Chechen boy who shouted “Allah Akbar” just before the police shot him. Ten people have already been arrested and questioned for their alleged involvement in the crime.
