“A subsidy in human form”: the provision of primary school teachers to secular extra-curricular associations 1940-1980

Résumé 0

‪The article traces the free provision (mise à disposition – MAD) of primary school teachers by the Ministry of Education to secular popular education extracurricular associations. This institutional arrangement arose out of local involvement during the Vichy regime and the Liberation, when the management of assigning teachers was disorganised. Supported by education authority inspectors, it was made official from 1951 onwards by the central administration. In order to support the secular cause, the Syndicat National des Instituteurs (National Union of Primary School Teachers) accepted departures from its principles of career management. The secular associations had predominantly male staff, who facilitated the professionalisation of their activities. The permanence of the MAD provision, illustrating the effects of institutional inertia and the strength of the networks of secular primary teachers even under right-wing governments, did not lead to a more sustainable structure, even between 1968 and 1972, when associations hoped to build a complementarity between school and the extracurricular sector. The increasing influence of secondary education and urbanisation gradually made the MAD provision appear progressively more out of step with social and school realities.‪