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 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 under President ...

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 ...

from 2017 to 2022.

Education and early career

Born in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ("the eighth"). The arrondissement ...

, he obtained a doctorate in law from Panthéon-Assas University and a master's degree in politics from Sciences Po. 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 ...

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

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 l ...

. 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, 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 during that year's regional elections and to potentially succeed Valérie Pécresse 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 o ...

. In addition to his government role, Blanquer has been heading the Le Laboratoire de la République since 2021; the organization is a think tank tasked with countering '' wokeism''. He joined the law faculty of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas_University in 2022 as professor of civil law.

2022 legislative election

In the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France were held on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of the 16th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. The elections took place following the 2022 French presidential election, which was held in Ap ...

, 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