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‪In the 19th century, there was no moral education in secondary schools for boys. However, the teaching of the humanities and philosophy had a moral tone. In 1902, the teaching of morality was introduced in the quatrième and troisième. This is explained firstly by the fact that many pupils in the “modern” sector did not study philosophy. In fact, in the context of renewed anti-clericalism and Republican militancy following the Dreyfus Affair, it was particularly important to give a Republican flavour to secondary education. The decision showed that moral discourse was not the exclusive domain of the chaplain. It was also a way of responding to those who, at the time of the Ribot Commission (1898-1899), said that high schools were lacking in terms of moral education. The teaching of morality disappeared from boys’ secondary schools in 1923 as part of the Bérard reform.‪