Minister of Public Instruction (France)

The Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research (French: Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche), or simply "Ministry of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the supervision of agreements and authorizations for private teaching organizations.

The Ministry's headquarters is located in the 18th century Hôtel de Rochechouart on the rue de Grenelle in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.

Given that National Education is France's largest employer, and employs more than half of the French state civil servants, the position is traditionally a fairly strategic one. The current minister is Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.

A governmental position overseeing public education was first created in France in 1802. Following the various regime changes in France in the first decades of the 19th century, the position changed official status and name a number of times before the position of Minister of Public Instruction was created in 1828. For much of its history, the position was combined with that of Minister of Public Worship, who dealt with issues related to the Roman Catholic Church, except in instances where the Minister of Public Instruction was a Protestant. The position has also occasionally been combined with Minister of Sports and Minister of Youth Affairs. In 1932, the office's title was changed to Minister of National Education, although it was briefly changed back in 1940–1941, and was renamed Minister of Education during the Presidency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1974–1981). In 1975, it created the Comité d'études sur les formations d'ingénieurs which studies the training and job placement of engineers in France.

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