物議醸す名門私立に息子が通学、仏教育相に批判　辞任は否定

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスで新たに国民教育相に就任したアメリー・ウデアカステラ氏が、同性愛嫌悪や男女差別の問題で物議を醸しているカトリック系の名門私立校に自身の子どもたちを通わせているとして批判を受けている。しかし同氏は１７日、辞任しない意向を表明した。（写真はアメリー・ウデアカステラ国民教育・スポーツ相）
　テニス元ジュニアチャンピオンのウデアカステラ氏は、前内閣でスポーツ・オリンピック・パラリンピック競技大会相を務めていたが、首都パリでの夏季五輪開催が迫る中、先週の内閣改造で国民教育相も兼任することになった。
　ウデアカステラ氏は、息子３人全員をパリの閑静な住宅街にあるカトリック系の名門私立校スタニスラスに入学させている。同校は昨年８月、国民教育省に提出された報告書で、国内法に反し宗教の授業を義務化しているとの指摘を受けていた。
　この宗教の授業では通常、保護者が講師として招かれている。同報告書によると、複数の講師が同性愛嫌悪的な発言をしたり、人工妊娠中絶を批判したりしたこともあったという。
　ウデアカステラ氏は先週、報道陣に対し、１５年前に息子の学校として同校を選んだ理由として、かつて通っていた公立校では「教師の不在時にきちんとした代替補充がないまま、多くの授業時間が浪費されていた」ためと説明していた。
　当時の教員は、ウデアカステラ氏の主張を断固否定。批判にさらされた同氏は１６日、教員らに謝罪するため同公立校を訪問したものの、ブーイングを受けた。
　翌１７日、ウデアカステラ氏は、今回の騒動を受け辞任も考えたが、思い直したと述べた。
　またスタニスラスの問題については、前任の国民教育相で現首相のガブリエル・アタル氏がすでに是正に向けた行動計画に着手しており、この計画の実施状況を注視していく考えを示した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/19-16:57）

France's new education minister on Wednesday said she was determined to remain in the post despite a controversy over her children going to a private Catholic school accused of homophobic and sexist behaviour.
Amelie Oudea-Castera, a former junior tennis champion, was handed the education brief in a cabinet reshuffle last week, on top of her sports portfolio, just months ahead of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
All three of her sons go to the elite Stanislas school, a Catholic institution in a chic Paris neighbourhood that in a report handed to the ministry in August was accused of making religious classes compulsory, contrary to French law.
In these sessions, several speakers -- who are usually parents -- were accused of making homophobic comments or criticising abortion, the report noted.
Oudea-Castera came under fire after she told reporters last week that she had chosen to put her son in the private school 15 years ago because of loads of teaching hours without a serious replacement teacher at his public school.
But this was vehemently denied by the boy's then teacher.
The minister was greeted with boos and tin can banging when she visited the school on Tuesday to apologise to teachers.
Oudea-Castera told France on Wednesday morning that she had thought of resigning over the controversy, but decided against it.
As long as I am here, I am at work in the interest of schools side-by-side with teachers... to ensure they succeed, she said.
She said she had not read the entire report on her children's school, instead reading a short summary to understand the accusations against her, but said her predecessor -- now Prime Minister Gabriel Attal -- had launched an action plan to address the issues raised in it.
This action plan will be followed with all the rigour necessary, she said.
In the report published on Tuesday by investigative website Mediapart, a former student said one woman in a religious class said former president Francois Hollande was a danger to France over his beliefs on gender.
One speaker, who in May last year described homosexuality as a sin for which he recommended treatment and said he was in favour of forgiving rapists, was dismissed and a letter of apology sent to parents, it added.
One student described a sexist atmosphere at the school, and the report noted excessive attention to the way female pupils were dressed.
Only one middle school teacher said he taught students about contraception as required by the national curriculum.