Traditional student "pranks" are not to everyone's taste
According to RFI (Radio France Internationale), the famous engineering school, founded in 1780, continues to follow a tradition: during the first three months of study, senior students force newcomers to go through a "period of transmission of values" (PTV). While the PTV lasts, newcomers are abruptly awakened in the middle of the night, forced to march, sing obscene songs, or squat for long periods under the jeers of "veteran" students.
However, Antoine Trouche, press secretary of the Union of Students of the National School of Arts and Crafts, who gave a comment to the newspaper Libération, sees nothing terrible in these antics. On the contrary: "Our school is the oldest engineering school in France. And we are proud of our traditions."
"No references to tradition can justify these humiliating and shameful acts," said French Minister of Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem in an interview with Libération. And she added that "humiliating and shameful acts" are often committed "under the influence of alcohol and even drugs."
Yes, of course, earlier hazing, called bizutage (which can be translated as "newcomer prank" or "newcomer initiation"), was a common phenomenon in French universities. But since 1998, as the minister reminded, the practice of bizutage has been officially banned by French law. And for violation, the perpetrator faces up to 6 months in prison and up to 7,500 euros in fine.
But engineers are not intimidated by prison and fines. Although the first report on several cases of hazing at the National School of Arts and Crafts was prepared back in 1999, even after 17 years the tradition of bizutage continues.
The supporters of the tradition themselves say that severe reprisals had not occurred before, and now, one might say, a thaw has set in. "Severe abuses of the tradition occurred about fifty years ago," says Mr. Trouche, press secretary of the Student Union. "Today anyone can refuse to participate in the PTV."
But Marie-France Henry, president of the National Committee for the Fight against Hazing in Educational Institutions, says that although any student at the engineering school can now indeed refuse to undergo the PTV, in that case he will simply be "excluded from the social life" of the university. "To endure complete social isolation, you have to be very strong," she says, and explains that every year, unable to withstand the pressure, dozens of students leave the school in the first three months. Among them are those who agreed to go through the three-month "basic training course" and those who chose complete isolation.
As experience shows, under the conditions of this "tradition," a student has no good choice. In 2013 and 2014, during bizutage, one student died and another suffered serious injuries, writes Libération.
Today the Minister of Education speaks of her firm determination to break the tradition. French media note that this will not be easy: former students of the National School of Arts and Crafts hold high positions in the largest French enterprises and form a kind of "brotherhood." And it is precisely for the sake of entering this "brotherhood" that the majority of engineering school students agree to go through the three-month "basic training course." And they do not wash dirty linen in public; in the school's management, former students have a majority: they occupy 18 of 33 seats on the administrative council.
As stated in the report that the Minister of Education has now received, "former students who are in the management of the engineering school defend the practice of PTV." And they compare going through the "basic training course" to passing an "exam" for a "certificate of professional competence."
Negotiating with these people is useless, the Ministry of Education decided, and plans to amend the charter of the engineering school to change the balance of power in the administrative council. And then carry out the necessary reforms.