Paris (France) (AFP) – The school commemorations of the Armistice of November 11, 1918 and the "deaths for France" are controversial, with some unions fearing a form of recruitment and exploitation a few months before the presidential election.

Published on: 09/11/2026 - 19:24

This ceremony participates "in the introduction of a culture of war at school", assert in a motion the union sections of a college in the Ile-de-France region who prefer not to be identified.

“We do not want to prepare our students to accept war as an inevitable horizon, nor teach them to consider military sacrifice as a value in itself,” they continue in this document obtained by AFP.

A circular published at the beginning of July establishes since the start of the school year an annual ceremony "of tribute to all those who died for France" for students from CM1 to final year, in the four days preceding or following November 11.

This commemoration must take place within the premises of the establishments and be based on texts, songs or work prepared in progress, before a time of contemplation, according to the guide posted online by the ministry.

“Yes, it will be commemorated,” confirmed the Minister of National Education Edouard Geffray on Monday, specifying that school heads were working to organize this event. He had already been surprised by the controversy, deeming it “regrettable”.

“On November 11, we celebrate victory and peace (...) Transmitting this memory to our students means making them understand the price of peace and the courage of those who defended our freedom,” he further underlined.

Among the sensitive points for opponents of this ceremony: the fact that soldiers or elected officials can participate as well as a ceremonial including the national anthem and recommending the laying of wreaths, as well as the reading of the "call of the dead".

Red line

The leading middle and high school union, the Snes-FSU sees it as an attempt to “recruit” young people and a “device promoting war”.

The CGT Educ'ation recalls that young people are already participating "freely" in the ceremonies (of November 11) in their municipality. “Making the ritual obligatory means transforming the memory into an exercise of obedience,” says the union.

“In fact, elected officials from the center to the extreme right are already seeking to invite themselves to these ceremonies for the purposes of political display a few months before the presidential elections,” estimates the Sud Éducation union, fearing “a risk of exploitation”.

In favor of this commemoration, Frédéric Meunier, head of establishment at Condorcet College in Paris, wondered at the start of the school year, with his teams, about the form to be given to this tribute which will be held Tuesday morning in the main courtyard of his establishment.

“There is no bugle, no bell tolls,” this former history and geography professor told AFP, who drew a red line: no “soldiers standing at attention” in the establishment.

The thirty-minute ceremony will only take place in the presence of class delegates (around fifty students), the district mayor and parents of students.

The Association of History and Geography Teachers (APHG) was concerned about this measure from the start of the school year. “In a time saturated with minutes of silence and tributes, a more gradual and more concerted implementation would have been preferable,” she underlined in a press release.

She recommended being vigilant about the “school climate” and refusing “any presence of political representatives, a few months before a presidential election which is already a cause of tension”.

“Any elected official who photographs a school ceremony without authorization would also contravene the image rights of minors,” insisted the association.

The signatories of the motion point out in their text another danger: the political exploitation of the disturbances which could occur during these ceremonies in working-class neighborhoods.

© 2026 AFP

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