France likes to think of itself as one of the world’s most egalitarian countries. But in recent weeks a bitter row over its new education minister’s choice to send her kids to an exclusive private school has drawn attention to a different reality: the soaring inequalities in France’s education system.

Earlier this month, barely one day after her appointment by business-friendly president Emmanuel Macron as part of a government reshuffle, Amélie Oudéa-Castera came under heavy criticism when she said she had originally picked a state school but had then grown “frustrated” at the “great number of teaching hours lost” due to staff shortages.

Oudéa-Castera has since apologized, but the storm is raging on. Subsequent media reports have questioned whether she was telling the truth about teacher absences having been an issue at the school. There are also allegations that at the private institution ultimately chosen by the minister, one of her children benefited from an internal selection system for its higher-level courses that effectively bypasses the official, nationwide procedure. The left-wing opposition is demanding Oudéa-Castera’s resignation, arguing that her attitude toward state education is incompatible with her role. Various teachers’ strikes are planned for coming days.