Mohamad Garba
A 31-year-old teaching assistant was fatally stabbed Tuesday morning at a school in Nogent, eastern France, by a 14-year-old pupil during a routine bag inspection. The shocking incident, the latest in a series of school-related attacks in France, has sent ripples of grief and outrage across the nation, prompting an immediate condemnation from President Emmanuel Macron.
The assailant, a secondary school student at the Francoise Dolto school, was arrested following the attack, which occurred shortly before 8:00 am as pupils were arriving. Education officials confirmed that the assistant was stabbed multiple times during a visual inspection of bags being conducted in the presence of police. One officer sustained minor injuries while restraining the suspect.
President Macron took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his sorrow and anger. “While protecting our children, a teaching assistant lost her life, the victim of a senseless wave of violence,” he wrote. “The nation is in mourning and the government is mobilised to reduce crime.”
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou echoed Macron’s sentiments, highlighting the “critical” threat posed by knives among children. “It is our responsibility to make this widespread scourge a public enemy,” he declared on X. Education Minister Elisabeth Borne traveled to Nogent to offer her support, commending the “composure and dedication” of those who intervened.
Emergency vehicles and police cars swarmed the school at midday as pupils were sent home and classes suspended for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The victim, whose identity has not been fully released, was described by local resident Nora as a woman with a husband and young son, expressing her profound sadness for the family. “Today it happened in Nogent, but it could happen anywhere,” Nora told AFP.
This tragic event reveals a growing concern in France regarding violence in schools and the prevalence of minors carrying weapons. In March, authorities initiated random bag searches for knives and other concealed weapons at and around schools in an attempt to curb the issue.
Naima Moutchou, the deputy speaker of the French parliament, had previously presented a report to Prime Minister Bayrou in May on the possession of knives by minors, noting that it had become a “phenomenon” affecting all areas and people from all walks of life. She highlighted that pupil carrying knives included those seeking to “defend themselves” and those who were “psychologically fragile.”
Teachers’ unions have voiced their anguish and concern. Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of the leading middle and high school teachers’ union SNES-FSU, expressed “anger at the thought that a teaching assistant was exposed in this way,” emphasizing that teaching assistants have an educational role, not a security one.
Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, secretary general of the SE-UNSA teachers’ union, spoke of her “immense pain” at the killing, stressing that the incident “shows that nothing can ever be completely secure and that it is prevention that needs to be focused on.” Jean-Remi Girard, president of the National Union of Secondary Schools, added the stark reality: “It’s impossible to be more vigilant 24 hours a day. We can’t say that every student is a danger or a threat. Otherwise, we’d never get out of bed in the morning.”
The interior ministry reported that between March 26 and May 26, 6,000 checks resulted in the seizure of 186 knives.
