The defence ministry’s youth education policy meets three goals:

• introduce the army’s role in society, develop the spirit and culture of defence, especially in schools (defence education instituted by law 97-1019 of 28 October 1997 that reformed national service) and with youth public policymakers
• shed light on the values defended by the fighting world in  20th-century conflicts and that help people today better understand the national or European defence policy
• increase knowledge about the military heritage, trace or testimony about a conflict.

Based on those themes, the defence ministry:

• organises, in the framework of defence preparedness day, information to teach young French people about defence missions
• produces educational tools and materials (exhibitions, brochures, etc.), especially in the area of military history
• co-organises competitions intended for young people
• supports, finances and accompanies educational projects in the framework of a partnership with the ministry of national education (joint circular of 6 July 2001) in association with organisations of the fighting world, organisations with connections to the defence world or local governments
• helps initial and continuous training of teaching on the national or local level in the framework of trinomic academic activity set up as part of defence-education protocols.

Contact :
Department of Memory, Heritage and Archives,
Educational Activities Office

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