Transcription
This is the French National School of Administration, or ENA. We're ambitious students being trained to become the next generation of French civil servants and lawmakers. Susan is one of the chosen few. After earning a degree in political science, the 24-year-old passed the school's challenging entry exam.
"When I was younger, I saw what impact political decisions have, interproximally own, especially when it comes to education and social affairs," she says. "I saw things that could be improved, which got me interested in starting a career as a civil servant." Most ENA applicants aspire to make France a little better. Suzanne hopes attending the elite school will help her land a top job as a French civil servant, which isn't unlikely. ENA has produced some of France's most prominent politicians and heads of state, among them President Emmanuel Macron and his predecessors, François Hollande and Jacques Chirac.
But ENA has always had a reputation for cultivating a cloistered French elite. Only children from well-to-do Parisian families, it's been said, stand a chance of being admitted. Though lately, efforts were made to make the school more inclusive. ENA's headquarters were relocated from Paris to Strasbourg to draw in less privileged applicants. ENA director Patrick Strzoda maintains his school is open to everyone. He says wealth or social status have no influence on who's admitted.
For the establishment of ENA, each ministry and state department could recruit their own management. That often led to nepotism, with children and nephews of staff being employed. Now, all civil servants must pass the same ENA entrance exam. It's about individual merit, which is beyond reproach.
Suzanne spent one whole year preparing for the ENA entrance exam. She worked hard to be admitted. Today's training session will teach her how to act if local residents protest against dispensaries for drug substitutes. "Do you have additional facts to analyze the situation? What do you think about such a dispensary opening?"
Even though the ENA entry exam is the same for every applicant, many ENA friends feel they don't have a chance of passing it. And only a few French nationals with a migrant background get admitted. French Yellow Vest protesters want the school to be shut down, but Suzanne thinks the problem lies elsewhere.
"ENA, l'ombre de l'ENA, has become a symbol for everything that's wrong with the French state, and we need to accept this criticism," she says. "But ENA alone is not to blame for the situation. You can only enroll when you have gone through the French school system, and we need to ask ourselves how can we improve French schools."
Some former ENA graduates are also critical of their alma mater, like Olivier Sabbagh. He was at the top of his class as a student and could have landed a prestigious job at the Court of Auditors, but instead, he chose to become an asylum judge.
"I was disappointed by ENA," he says. "When I enrolled, I was full of energy and eager to improve the French state. Just one example: I expected to be taught by economists with different perspectives, in order to be able to come up with fresh, new ideas. But instead, we were only instructed by a new graduate who worked for the Finance Ministry."
Having every she Yongsan savvy says ENA's relocation to Strasbourg has not really improved the situation, and the school still maintains a small Parisian campus, a stone's throw from the Senate. Suzanne meets ENA graduates in the French capital to get valuable career advice, though she's adamant this is not about building networks to land top jobs in politics.
"Reform political said France, the state plays a bigger role than in other countries," she explains. "That's why we are very selective about who will later play a role in managing France."
Very thoughtful, President Macron is assessing whether the school should be shut down, but Susan disagrees. She's convinced that ENA should continue training coming generations of elite French decision-makers.