Macron orders three-year-olds to school to stop extremism in France

All three-year-olds in France will have to attend school in a measure designed to foster social cohesion and prevent children turning into extremists.

French President Emmanuel Macron listens to pre-school children as he visits the Emelie pre-school in Paris.

All three-year-olds in France will have to attend school in a ­measure designed to foster social cohesion and prevent children turning into extremists.

President Emmanuel Macron said lowering the compulsory school age, for the first time in ­almost 140 years, would combat the alienation he believes has led thousands of young people to side with Islamists.

Mr Macron alluded to the murders of four people in ­southwest France last week by Redouane Lakdim, 25, a jihadist who was born in Morocco but had spent most of his life in France.

“The republic created itself in and through the schools and it is school today where the fabric of the common good is woven,” Mr Macron said.

“Every time that our nation is struck in its heart, some people have a tendency to treat only the symptoms.

“It is through schools, by ­building a school of kindness and fulfilment, that we will build a new generation which will not have to yield to murderous impulses.”

The President has come under pressure from the conservative opposition, and from some on the left, for suggesting there were social reasons why young people from immigrant backgrounds were being driven towards radical Islam and terrorism. He said compulsory schooling from age three would help to fight poverty and correct injustice inflicted by society.

The move is partly symbolic because 97 per cent of French three-year-olds already attend nurseries and preschools. Mr Macron said he was aiming to reach children from poorer families who missed out.

About 25,000 three-year-olds are not enrolled in any preschool and many more attend only part time because their parents cannot afford the canteen lunches, Mr Macron said. He added that daily interaction with teachers and other pupils gave children who did attend an advantage over those who did not.

France has one of the highest attendance rates in the EU for children under six. The President, who has prioritised education reform, argues that mandatory school from age three, the first change to the official starting age since 1882, will ensure ensuring regular attendance.

The requirement will be introduced in January and will bring France into line with Hungary, the first EU state to make school compulsory for three-year-olds.

The French union of preschool teachers opposed the move and said that parents should have a choice. The main parents’ federation urged the government to focus on understaffing. French nursery classes average 23 pupils, compared with 14 for the OECD group of wealthy nations.

Boris Cyrulnik, a neuropsychiatrist who headed the pre-school conference where Mr Macron was speaking, agreed that priority should be given to recruiting and training more teachers. “Our teachers have a good university level but their training is too intellectual and does not always match the needs of the child,” he said.

The Times