The Ecole Nationale d’Administration, known as ENA, is a small Strasbourg-based finishing school for top civil servants that plays an outsized role in French public life.
Created in the aftermath of World War II, admission virtually guarantees an influential job in the upper reaches of the public sector and has long been viewed as the most promising route into politics.
The courtyard at the prestigious Ecole Nationale d’Administration. Photo: AFP
Why was it created?
In February Macron said the “social elevator” in France – the process by which people from poorer backgrounds rise to prominent positions – “works less well than 50 years ago”.
He is expected to announce a new school with a new name that will be responsible for training students for senior public sector roles, with an emphasis on opening up pathways for people from poorer or ethnic minority backgrounds.
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