Paris: A newly released report by the General Secretariat for Catholic Education (SGEC) has ignited fresh controversy in France, raising serious concerns over the conduct of state inspections in Catholic schools and reopening a long-standing debate about educational freedom, state authority, and respect for religious identity.
Published on December 8, the 14-page document has drawn widespread attention in the French media. It brings together testimonies from teachers, principals, and administrative staff working in Catholic schools operating under state contract, many of whom describe inspection practices they say were intrusive, humiliating, and excessive. While the report does not dispute the legitimacy of state oversight, Catholic education leaders strongly criticise the methods employed, warning that they risk violating educators’ dignity and eroding the legally recognized character of Catholic institutions.
The report emerges only months after a parliamentary inquiry called for tighter monitoring of Catholic schools in the name of child protection. Catholic education authorities now warn that the resulting climate has fostered suspicion and, in some cases, political exploitation.
The renewed scrutiny follows revelations in July of physical and sexual abuse at Notre Dame de BĂ©tharram, a Catholic boarding school in southwestern France. The case, along with similar incidents elsewhere, triggered a national reckoning over how abuse is detected and addressed in schools. A parliamentary investigation highlighted serious failures but also prompted wider questions about the nature and limits of oversight in faith-based institutions.
According to the SGEC report, some inspections have gone far beyond professional evaluation. Testimonies describe unannounced visits by inspection teams numbering between 10 and 16 officials, who reportedly spread throughout school premises without guidance, disrupted classes, questioned students, photographed classrooms, and even searched pupils’ backpacks.
Teachers recount inspectors entering classrooms without introducing themselves, leafing through students’ notebooks during lessons, and interrogating staff in front of children. Such practices, the report argues, amount to “disproportionate shows of force” that undermine trust and professionalism.
Particularly troubling, according to Catholic educators, is the nature of certain questions posed during inspections. Teachers say they were asked about their personal religious practices, including whether they attend Sunday Mass. Inspectors allegedly examined and photographed students’ personal spiritual journals, which are meant to remain private.
School principals also report being pressured to remove Christian references from projects or to take down religious symbols demands they say contradict French law, which explicitly recognizes the distinctive identity of Catholic schools operating under state contract.
Beyond individual cases, the report paints a broader picture of growing anxiety within Catholic education. Educators describe a climate of fear and demoralization, with confidence in institutional partners badly shaken. Some inspectors are said to have dismissed strong academic results by claiming students were already high achievers before enrolment, while others reportedly sent critical reports to local officials containing disputed or potentially damaging claims, leaving school leaders feeling publicly discredited without prior dialogue.
Guillaume Prévost, who became secretary-general of Catholic education in September, said the situation had become untenable.
“We could not continue to allow our teachers to be humiliated,” he said in an interview with Famille Chrétienne, explaining why Catholic education authorities decided to make the report public.
Prévost stressed that Catholic schools do not oppose inspections in principle. In the report’s introduction, he wrote that “there can be no freedom without control,” acknowledging oversight as an essential safeguard. He noted that many inspections lead to constructive exchanges, with inspectors recognizing strengths such as family engagement, inclusion of students with disabilities, and the coherence of educational projects.
However, he insisted that inspections must be conducted within a clear legal framework, with professionalism, restraint, and discernment. The deeper danger, he warned, lies in a systemic drift: if inspections are used to dilute Catholic identity, impose administrative control, or force conformity with the public school model, France risks sacrificing one of its educational assets in the name of uniformity.
The controversy revives a historic tension between the French state and Catholic education. The 1959 Debré Law sought to strike a balance by allowing private schools to operate under state contract while preserving their distinctive character. Recent debates suggest that the interpretation of this balance remains contested.
Under President Emmanuel Macron, the government has moved to tighten oversight across the education sector, including restrictions on home schooling and closer scrutiny of certain Catholic institutions. High-profile cases, such as Paris’ Stanislas School, have drawn attention, though inspections there did not reveal systemic violations.
In response to the SGEC report, the Ministry of National Education sought to calm tensions, reaffirming that inspections are governed by strict legal rules. The ministry explicitly acknowledged that questions aimed at identifying a student’s religious affiliation are prohibited and said “firm instructions” would be issued to all rectors to clarify both the scope and conduct of inspections. “If failings have occurred, all consequences will be drawn,” the ministry said.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray defended the need for oversight in light of past abuses, noting that more than 850 inspections have already been carried out this year, with around 1,000 expected by year’s end.
Catholic education in France serves over two million students from diverse social backgrounds. Its representatives stress that inspection practices affect not only school staff but also families who entrust their children to these institutions.
As debate intensifies, the report has become a focal point in a wider national discussion about safeguarding children, respecting religious freedom, and ensuring that oversight strengthens rather than undermines the educational fabric of France.