Jean-Michel Blanquer (; born 4 December 1964) is a French jurist and government official serving as Minister of National Education under Prime Ministers

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), Mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020 ...

and

Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served f ...

from 2017 to 2022.

Education and early career

Born in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, he obtained a doctorate in law from Panthéon-Assas University and a master's degree in politics from

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

. From 1996 to 1998, he was a professor in civil law at

Sciences Po Lille Institut d'études politiques de Lille ( en, Lille Institute of Political Studies), officially referred to as Sciences Po Lille, is a grande école located in Lille, France. It is a part of the '' Conférence des Grandes Écoles''. It was created a ...

. From 1998 to 2004, he was director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the

New Sorbonne University The New Sorbonne University (french: Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, also known as Paris III) is a public university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was completely overhauled and rest ...

. From 2009 to 2012, Blanquer served as the director general of secondary and junior school education under then Minister of National Education

Luc Chatel Luc-Marie Chatel () (born on 15 August 1964 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA) is a French politician of the Republicans (LR) who served as Minister of National Education in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon from June 2009 to May 20 ...

. In 2013, he became president of

ESSEC Business School The École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (more commonly ESSEC Business School or ESSEC) is a major French business and management school, with non-profit association status (French association law of 1901) founded in 190 ...

Minister of National Education

On 15 May 2017, Blanquer was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron to be Minister of National Education in the

first Philippe government The first Philippe government (French: ''Gouvernement Édouard Philippe I'') was the fortieth government of the French Fifth Republic. It was the first government formed by Édouard Philippe under President Emmanuel Macron, prior to the 2017 leg ...

. He retained the position on 17 June 2017 when the

second Philippe government The second Philippe government (French: ''Gouvernement Édouard Philippe II'') was the forty-first government of the French Fifth Republic. It was the second government formed by Édouard Philippe under President Emmanuel Macron, following the 2 ...

was formed, following the legislative election of 2017. Soon after assuming the office, Blanquer announced plans to get rid of homework, preferring instead that time be set aside during the school day to do homework in school. He also overhauled the French baccalaureate and introduced free breakfasts for school children in poor neighborhoods.Factbox: Who are the key ministers in Macron's new government

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, 6 July 2020. In June 2017, the ministry published a readjustment of elementary school programs in French and mathematics. In December 2017, Blanquer announced that France's education system would ban mobile devices during lunch or recess. The announcement was met with mixed responses. In early 2021, Blanquer removed himself from the race to lead the LREM campaign in

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

during that year's regional elections and to potentially succeed

Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...

as president of the

Regional Council of Île-de-France The Regional Council of Île-de-France () is the regional council of Île-de-France, France's most populous administrative region. Made up of 209 regional councillors elected for 6 years, it is headquartered in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, just north of ...

. In addition to his government role, Blanquer has been heading the Le Laboratoire de la République since 2021; the organization is a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

tasked with countering ''

wokeism ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexis ...

''. He joined the law faculty of

Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas_University Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 2022 as professor of civil law.

2022 legislative election

In the 2022 French legislative election, he stood in Loiret's 4th constituency but came third, and was eliminated in the first round.

Personal life

Blanquer has been divorced twice.

References

External link

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanquer, Jean-Michel 1964 births Living people La République En Marche! politicians Politicians from Paris Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni Pantheon-Sorbonne University alumni Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Sciences Po alumni Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century French politicians 21st-century French politicians French Ministers of National Education French academic administrators