School is at once a place of hope, but it's also a laboratory that exposes our differences.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Compared to some of our neighbours, it's not frowned upon to be a mother and work in France.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Low income persons in need of social housing should be housed in more prosperous areas to avoid placing an extra burden on the poorer areas and to redress the balance in terms of housing, redressing the balance in terms of schooling.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

We have to reappropriate the concept of laicite (secularism) so we can explain to our young pupils that whatever their faith, they belong to this idea, and they're not excluded. Secularism is not something against them; it protects them.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

I was very shy and reserved, so it was a bit contradictory to get into politics.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

School was always a major player in my personal journey. It allowed me to open up to the world, and also social mobility. It allowed me to enrich myself, to read, learn and understand.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Equality in education is my number one battle.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

When I started out, it was rare to see elected representatives with foreign roots. Often, I was relegated to my origins, put in the diversity box: 'You're the new face of diversity.' That annoyed me because I always felt French, and suddenly I was being made to feel I wan't as French as others.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

I feel totally French - I don't feel half-French because of my dual nationality. For me, dual nationality just means I don't deny my roots.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

I'm aware that beyond my own need to find a personal balance, I should be sending a signal to society as women's minister about the importance of work-life balance.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

If a big number of young pupils felt secularism was an attack on them, it was because the term had been misused and deformed in the public debate for years by the extreme-right and the right as an attack on Islam. The term had often been misused to point out how Muslims were different to others, and that is clearly problematic.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

On certain, delicate subjects, bringing in outsiders to talk about values is pertinent because pupils listen to them more attentively.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

It is not just family that must transmit values, but school also.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

I decided to make a lifetime commitment against social injustices, against inequalities, and that is why I am profoundly from the Left.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

By continuing to increase teacher recruitment and training - and ameliorating wages and working conditions - we will be able to shore up the weaknesses of the French education system.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

In Europe, we will work towards having a common stance, while in France, we will strengthen our protection for asylum seekers whose lives are in danger because of their sexual orientation.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

We have to be careful not to have a form of militant secularism in our country, which is counter-productive for children we would like to see - adhere - to secularism.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

As long as there is no proselytism... we must facilitate the partnership between parents and schools.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

How can a child adhere to school and the notion of secularism when they see their mother rejected from a school outing, stigmatized, left on the sidelines, just because she has a scarf on her head?

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

The education ministry files suit every time there is a case of identity fraud.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem Quotes

School is at once a place of hope, but it's also a laboratory that exposes our differences.

Compared to some of our neighbours, it's not frowned upon to be a mother and work in France.

Low income persons in need of social housing should be housed in more prosperous areas to avoid placing an extra burden on the poorer areas and to redress the balance in terms of housing, redressing the balance in terms of schooling.

We have to reappropriate the concept of laicite (secularism) so we can explain to our young pupils that whatever their faith, they belong to this idea, and they're not excluded. Secularism is not something against them; it protects them.

I was very shy and reserved, so it was a bit contradictory to get into politics.

School was always a major player in my personal journey. It allowed me to open up to the world, and also social mobility. It allowed me to enrich myself, to read, learn and understand.

Equality in education is my number one battle.

When I started out, it was rare to see elected representatives with foreign roots. Often, I was relegated to my origins, put in the diversity box: 'You're the new face of diversity.' That annoyed me because I always felt French, and suddenly I was being made to feel I wan't as French as others.

I feel totally French - I don't feel half-French because of my dual nationality. For me, dual nationality just means I don't deny my roots.

I'm aware that beyond my own need to find a personal balance, I should be sending a signal to society as women's minister about the importance of work-life balance.

On certain, delicate subjects, bringing in outsiders to talk about values is pertinent because pupils listen to them more attentively.

It is not just family that must transmit values, but school also.

I decided to make a lifetime commitment against social injustices, against inequalities, and that is why I am profoundly from the Left.

By continuing to increase teacher recruitment and training - and ameliorating wages and working conditions - we will be able to shore up the weaknesses of the French education system.

In Europe, we will work towards having a common stance, while in France, we will strengthen our protection for asylum seekers whose lives are in danger because of their sexual orientation.

We have to be careful not to have a form of militant secularism in our country, which is counter-productive for children we would like to see - adhere - to secularism.

As long as there is no proselytism... we must facilitate the partnership between parents and schools.

How can a child adhere to school and the notion of secularism when they see their mother rejected from a school outing, stigmatized, left on the sidelines, just because she has a scarf on her head?

The education ministry files suit every time there is a case of identity fraud.