Minister s announcement to audit all universities in the country sparks backlash - video

With Islamo-leftism posing a palpable problem at universities, the minister for higher education has asked for a comprehensive audit of institutions, drawing strong criticism from the academic community. The renowned essayist, however, argues that university leaders and the government act with hypocrisy.

WORLD POLITICS FEBRUARY 19. 2021 14:53

Islamo-leftism has long been a major problem at French universities. In early October last year, President Macron pledged to take action, declaring an open fight against Islamism taking on extreme proportions.

Speaking about the issue earlier, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer warned that „Islamo-leftism” was „wreaking havoc” in French academia. Recently, Minister for Higher Education Frederique Vidal announced that she would order an audit in French higher education institutions to push back Islamo-leftism.

In an article published by the weekly Valeurs actuelles,  several university teachers expressed concerns about higher education, saying that Islamo-leftist ideology increasingly permeates the curriculum. This trend is particularly palpable in the humanities and social sciences: although universities like to be portrayed as progressive institutions, they are reluctant to cover some contentious issues such as the situation of women and LGBT people. Moreover, taboos seem to surround certain subjects such as early and forced marriages, female genital mutilation, polygamy, force-feeding of girls or stoning.  According to the article published by Valeurs actuelles, Islamo-leftist ideology contaminates not only academic subjects and educational content but also impacts the entire operation of universities and their budgetary choices. 

Frederique Vidal also announced that she had asked the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) to audit all French universities since she believes that the current operation of universities is not transparent. She maintains that scientific knowledge and expressions of opinion should be kept separate. The minister also asked the CNRS to prepare an overview of the research currently being conducted in universities nation-wide, especially as regards post-colonialism.

The minister s announcement drew outrage from university leaders. University of Strasbourg President Father Michel Deneken, said he was shocked that the CNRS would be deployed as a political police force.

The CNRS responded to the announcement of the minister for higher education in a statement. According to the research centre, the term Islamo-leftism, used as a political slogan in public debates, does not correspond to any scientific reality. The CNRS strongly condemns those who try to take advantage of the concept in order to call into question academic freedom, essential to the scientific process and the advancement of knowledge.

The French government appears to be abandoning its minister in the fight against the Islamo-leftism pervading universities. When questioned, government spokesperson Gabriel Attal circumvented the issue, and went on to talk about the government s primary goal to provide financial support to university students who are in a difficult situation due to the health crisis, and to reintroduce in-class learning as quickly as possible, Europe 1 writes.

Renowned French essayist Eric Zemmour also spoke out on the subject. He called the government and university leaders hypocritical, because university faculties comply with tje European requirements to promote research into gender and post-colonialism – that is the cultural legacy of colonisation – for scholarship funding. Zemmour believes that the presidents of French universities promote the development of these studies out of cowardice, fear or ideological conviction.

Eric Zemmour notes, the French government is yet again doing nothing to solve the problem, only performatively appearing to take up the fight against left-wing Islamisation.

WORLD POLITICS

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france, islamism, university