“Disguising yourself as a CRS…”: successes and questions for “defense and security” classes

Officially established in 2016, the “global defense and security classes” have become a “ministerial priority” for several months in order to train “responsible and committed citizens”. Despite great success, the system questions certain parents and teachers.

It is a system which is becoming a little more widespread in the country every year: the “global defense and security classes”. Officially established in 2016, this system has become a major subject for Emmanuel Macron and the government in view of the global geopolitical context. Between the invasion of Ukraine, the war in the Middle East and the tensions around Greenland, National Education has made it a “ministerial priority” in order to train “responsible and committed citizens in a complex and unstable world”.

“There is a very serious problem in France and in Europe,” said former officer Guillaume Ancel, who fully supports this project, guest of the Morning Le Supplément. “Only 3% of the population has a military culture. This does not mean wanting to take up arms and fight against others.”

A frank success

Concretely, these classes, set up at the initiative of middle and high schools, allow the organization of meetings and exchanges with a military unit throughout the year. In the space of a decade, the number of participants has increased tenfold. In total, 1,200 classes and 32,000 students are participating in the system for the 2025-2026 school year and will take part in ceremonies – such as the May 8 commemorations – or even visits to bases and places of memory with the partner military unit.

“The students listen, they are focused on what is asked of them, they are fully engaged and surpass themselves,” rejoices Catherine Noël, teacher in a college in Marne, at the microphone of RMC. Faced with her students’ lack of motivation for classical subjects, this technology teacher even decided to organize a drone demonstration carried out by the military in order to make her lessons more attractive.

“There really is a total difference between what the military offers us and what we offer to the students,” she adds.

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The fear of “recruitment”

But behind this generally positive experience lies a growing concern among many parents and teachers: that of a potential “recruitment” towards the military path and the dangers that it can involve.

Some specific cases raise questions about this subject, such as in Dijon, where a family learned at the start of the school year that their 4th grade child was part of a defense class. And the proposed activities aroused the anger of parents.

“We understood that it was not an option,” testifies Virginie, the student’s mother. “We tried to find out what it was, and that’s where we discovered workshops where students were asked to dress up as CRS to learn how to deal with hostile demonstrators.”

This workshop took place with gendarmes from Dijon, who supervised students from several defense classes in the department for a day. Since January, at his request, his son has no longer participated in activities.

Activities that question some parents and teachers

In Moselle, soldiers also offered a laser shooting session in a high school. In the images published on social networks, the students, lying in a gymnasium, practice shooting under the supervision of soldiers in uniform. Contacted by RMC, the Ministry of Education explains that it is a simple “sport shooting”.

But in the same establishment, the military also came to present their armored vehicle in the courtyard. “It is a common practice to introduce people to the army,” the ministry further justifies. But behind this, certain members of the academy denounce a glorification of armament and a presentation of military exercise as a “game”.

“When we do weapons demonstrations alongside soldiers in uniform and military vehicles, it doesn’t give the impression that it’s sporty and fun,” confides a teacher from the Nancy-Metz academy.

“It questions the role of school and the mix of genres maintained”

“It’s their job,” defends Guillaume Ancel for his part. “It’s as if we were presenting firefighters and saying that we should definitely not talk about fire because it could scare children. We are in a state of advanced ignorance.”

According to him, “97% of the population understands nothing when we talk to them about war”, and these classes make it possible to educate students in military operations from a very young age.

In any case, these classes are now intended to continue to multiply in the future. Several teachers told RMC that they were forced to set up a “defense class” to be able to organize outings, as the establishments’ budgets were too low. As part of travel, transport costs are covered by the army.

Emmanuel Macron also announced that the duration of classes would now extend to three years instead of just one. But this will not be the case everywhere: each academy will have the power to make its choice locally, specifies the Ministry of Education at RMC.