France, April 11 -- French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will appear before a parliamentary commission on 14 May to answer questions about his role in a 1998 investigation into alleged child sexual abuse at a Catholic school when he was education minister. Other former holders of the post, as well as the incumbent Education Minister Elisabeth Borne, have also been called for questioning.

The inquiry is examining state oversight of private schools, including the Betharram case - a scandal involving decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse at a Catholic boarding school in the southwest of France.

Bayrou has been summoned in his capacity as a former education minister, a post he held between 1993 and 1997.

He has repeatedly denied ac...