France's education ministry barely inspected private schools while abuse went on for decades at Bétharram and elsewhere, a parliamentary inquiry found.

The National Assembly's inquiry into state oversight of violence in schools, set up after the Notre-Dame de Bétharram scandal, published its report on 2 July 2025 and described 'un État défaillant'. Citing an education ministry note, it found that only twelve administrative inspections were carried out in 2017-2023 across seven education authorities with nearly 3,000 private schools under state contract, and that a 1996 inspection of Bétharram reached conclusions later contradicted by the abuse revealed.