The president Emanuel Macron will announce today the closure of the French National School of Administration (Ecole Nationale d’Administration- ENA), an elitist school from which many of the country’s presidents, ambassadors and business leaders graduated, according to French media.
The move to abolish what for some in France has been a symbol of unequal opportunities is part of the French president’s impetus for a fairer society. The same Emanuel Macron studied there.
A new school will be created in place of ENA with new rules for recruitment and access to higher levels of public administration.
Europe 1 radio network broadcast that Macron is expected to reveal his plans in a digital meeting he will have with high-ranking public administration officials.
The graduate school was founded in 1945 by Charles de Gaulle to train a post-war administrative elite from all political classes.
Over time, however, he gained a reputation for selecting students from higher social ranks and detaching himself from reality.
Four modern-day presidents and eight prime ministers have graduated from the school. The same goes for the CEOs of the Orange Telecommunications Group, Societe Generale Bank and the Carrefour Retail Group.
Emanuel Macron has said he wants to install a more meritocratic system. Last month it announced a special admission process to France’s elite schools for underprivileged students in need of scholarships.
ENA director Patrick Gerard acknowledged the school’s lack of diversity, but stressed that the school was not solely responsible for it.
“ENA cannot be blamed for all the negatives,” he told L’Express magazine in October.
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