Man with a mission

Now on a semi-official visit to Kerala, Jack Lang, France's Minister for Education, spoke to The Hindu's Paris correspondent VAIJU NARAVANE in an exclusive interview just before his departure for India.

JACK LANG, 60, is almost unanimously recognised as the most dynamic Minister of Culture France has had after Andr Malraux. He has also twice served as Minister of Education, his present portfolio. Lang is a political heavyweight within the socialist party, seen by many as a future "presidential" candidate. He is also the Mayor of the beautiful fortress city of Blois in the famous Loire valley, popular with the young because of his tolerance and even enthusiasm for certain extreme forms of cultural expression (he set up a special wall for graffiti artists and applauded the rap movement as a legitimate form of protest). Lang has an impressive following among leftist French intellectuals.

A week ago, Mr. Lang spent an evening with Indian students and researchers at his ministry in Paris, chatting informally, asking them about their problems, hopes and aspirations. "It was quite unusual to be able to meet a minister so informally and to discuss our problems so freely and frankly. He is very intelligent and an attentive listener. He put us all at our ease, and I, for one, found him charming," enthused one of those present at the gathering.

We began the interview with Jack Lang's impressions about his evening spent with Indian students and researchers:

FIRST, I was utterly charmed by their openness of spirit, their intellectual curiosity, their desire to get to know the world, not just Europe. They are all serious, brilliant students. I was also struck by the diversity of talent. There are some who are attracted by technology, some by science, others by literature and the arts. So I was fortunate to have encountered this brilliant and warm community. At the same time I realised how important it was for Europe, not just for France, to make India better known here - its universities, its research institutes. I think at the moment there exists a reciprocal ignorance.

India surprises, fascinates, even astonishes. At the same time, India is still perceived as a faraway universe, even though in Europe and particularly in France, we are familiar with Indian authors, Indian cinema, India's ancient knowledge. Everyone here knows that India is an immense and fabulous country, with a rich and promising future.

In India however, all the possibilities that Europe offers are not well known. There is too much of a tendency to turn to the U.S.. Of course it's a big country which is attractive, but at the same time I would wish that more Indians came to Europe to study. After all, Europe is the cradle of Western civilisation and the world's biggest economic power. All the Union's states jointly make Europe a great scientific, cultural and artistic centre.

VAIJU NARAVANE: "Language is one of the great barriers. Students hesitate to come to continental Europe because they are afraid of finding themselves in an alien universe where they cannot communicate. Can solutions not be found to surmount this problem - intensive language courses to begin with, for instance?

There is no doubt that there are several obstacles. The biggest of these is ignorance or at least, a lack of knowledge. So we have to inform people better. There are other obstacles such as bureaucratic delays and formalities and these have to be simplified. We must improve the living and working conditions of the students who come.

As far as language is concerned, there are several measures that can be taken. A great deal also depends on the geographical and social origins of the Indian students. I think that when we accept Indian students into French universities, we should be less demanding about their knowledge of French. Even at the age of 20, 22 or 25, a person can learn a language very quickly. I don't think it is at all serious if an Indian student arriving in French barely speaks the language. He or she can be given intensive courses and interaction with French students will help the student to learn the language quickly.

Also there are some excellent Alliance Francaise institutes in India where a student can pick up enough French in a couple of weeks to brave it here. And finally, I have asked my collaborators to see if in certain areas of study, the instruction cannot be carried out in English during the first few months. And this suggestion concerns non-Indian students as well. I think that would certainly facilitate the transition from English to French.

Minister, France has often been criticised for the rigidity of its educational system where there is too great an emphasis on academic performance and too little on cultural or extra- curricular activities. You have recently launched a project with the French Culture Minister Catherine Tasca to integrate culture into education. Could you describe the initiative?

I was the French Culture Minister for ten years under President Mitterrand. Culture is my passion, one of the reasons to live. I have also been a teacher and education is my other passion. I have been fortunate to be able to "minister" to both my passions! I don't think one can separate the two, so I wanted to initiate a programme which would expose a student to art and culture throughout his academic life.

First, it allows for a balanced blossoming of the personality. A human being constitutes a whole - a brain which reasons within a sensitive, intuitive, emotional being. An educational system which would lay emphasis only on the rational brain will yield handicapped young persons. I believe profoundly that it is equally important to awaken a young person's emotive sensibilities - Grace and the Word, if you like.

Second, contrary to a long held belief in France, activities such as theatre, dance, music do not detract or distract from the acquisition of the 3Rs. In my experience they tend to facilitate the learning experience. A child who has confidence in himself because he has been allowed to explore his full potential will learn more easily. Music and theatre can be made into tools to explain concepts otherwise dry and difficult to understand. Theatre can develop language skills, for instance.

Thirdly, globalisation can end up destroying cultural singularities. And I think it is very important to teach our children to appreciate art, to generate in them a passion for art and culture, so that they do not passively submit to the materialistic, consumer society that globalisation is creating. The school is the place where we must create our future music lovers, cinephiles, our readers and museum-goers. I also think that culture and art could become a remedy against violence. This aspect is totally lacking in the French educational system which is far too guided by Cartesian logic and a rigorous accent on rationalism.

You are popular with the young because they see you as someone who "understands" them. A prime example is when you set aside a wall for graffiti artists and said graffiti was a legitimate form of artistic expression. You were however highly criticised by the political establishment.

There has been a lot of confusion about that. I have been accused of being the Pope of Tague (taguer in French slang means to scrawl). My political adversaries continue to call me that. As if I were the type to encourage young people to go daubing the walls of historical monuments. I have never condoned the defacing of public monuments. But there is no doubt that there exists a certain form of artistic expression. So when there have been walls of old condemned buildings waiting to be pulled down, I have encouraged the young to use these spaces. And they can be extremely creative - one only has to think of Jean Michel Basquiat.

Why have you chosen to visit India at this time and what do you expect to do in Kerala?

Because I don't know India well and I would like to know it better. I am not a great traveller, certainly not a tourist. I tend to travel through the spirit, the mind. I travel through books, films, by meeting people. I have been to India a few times, the first trip was with President Mitterrand on a State visit. I remember seeing extraordinary sights - Fatehpur Sikri and the Pink City really impressed me. I love seeing monuments in brick, especially the thin bricks of the Moghul period which I find splendid. I spent a fortnight in Rajasthan with my wife Monique which was stunning. I have always wanted to visit southern India and I have heard about the singularity of Kerala since my student days . I know of its politics, I have seen many Kathakali performances in Paris. So Kerala is not completely unknown territory. I want to know it first hand. I would like to meet musicians, dancers, film-makers, writers. I know that Kerala has a very rich and vibrant cultural and artistic life.

Your predecessor Claude Allegre left under a cloud eight months ago after a huge conflict with the teaching body. He wanted to radically reform the education system in France. What is your approach? Do you want to bring in fundamental changes or will you have a more consensual approach?

I am an intellectual but I am also a man of action. When I undertake a public responsibility, I like to change, reform, improve and build in a climate of serenity, dialogue and peace. When you want to bring about transformation, you need a minimum of consent from the parties concerned. That does not preclude me from making clear and firm choices. Claude Allegre, my predecessor is an immense scientist, a brilliant man, but because of imprudent statements, he created a climate of hostility in the teaching body. From that moment on he was paralysed, deprived of the means to act. The teachers refused all his proposals. So if you want to change things, you need a basic amount of trust and confidence and I think we have this today. The students and teachers know that I am there not just to pour oil over troubled waters but also to bring about much needed changes in the way our schools and universities are designed, conceived and run. In the new year I will be announcing several major changes, one of which is designed to open up our education system to European and other cultures of the world. If young people cannot apprehend each other's culture, who will be able to build bridges between countries and cultures? Young people should have the chance to travel, exchange ideas and opinions. For this the internet can play a major role and I am backing a project to create a "digital campus" or the virtual university. If we could establish such links with Indian universities and research centres I would be very happy indeed.

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