Education in France
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The French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided into three different stages:
- primary education (enseignement primaire);
- secondary education (enseignement secondaire);
- higher education (enseignement supérieur).
Primary and secondary education are predominantly public (private schools also exist, in particular a strong nationwide network of primary and secondary Catholic education), while higher education has both public and private elements. The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks France's education as the 25th best in the world, being neither significantly higher nor lower than the OECD average. [1]
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[edit] History
While the French trace the development of their educational system to Charlemagne, the modern era of French education begins at the end of the nineteenth century. Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican school (l'école républicaine) by requiring all children under the age of 15 -- boys and girls -- to attend. He also made public instruction free of charge and secular (laïque).
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| Educational oversight
Minister
Deputy Minister |
Ministry of National Education Xavier Darcos |
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| National education budget | €64.6 billion (2009) | |
| Primary language(s) | French | |
| Central system |
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| Literacy (2003) • Men • Women |
991% 99% 99% |
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| Enrollment • Primary • Secondary • Post-secondary |
15.0 million2 6.7 million 4.8 million 2.3 million3 |
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| Attainment • Secondary diploma • Post-secondary diploma |
79.7% 27% |
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| 1As of 2004, literacy rates are no longer collected within INSEE censuses. 2Includes private education. 3Includes universities, CPGE, and technical schools. |
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All educational programs in France are regulated by the Ministry of National Education (officially called Ministère de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche). The head of the ministry is the Minister of National Education, one of the highest-ranking officials in the cabinet. As of May 2007, the Minister is Xavier Darcos.
The teachers in public primary and secondary schools are all state civil servants, making the ministère the largest employer in the country. Professors and researchers in France's universities are also employed by the state.
At the primary and secondary levels, the curriculum is the same for all French students in any given grade, which includes public, semi-public and subsidised institutions. However, there exist specialised sections and a variety of options that students can choose. The reference for all French educators is the Bulletin officiel de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche (B.O.) which lists all current programs and teaching directives. It is amended many times every year.
Find B.O. archives on the Ministry's official website
[edit] Académie system
In France, academic councils called académies (English : academies) are responsible for supervising all aspects of University education in a given region. Universities are answerable to their académie, and the académies are answerable to the Ministry of Education. However, private Universities are independent of the state and therefore independent of the académies.
French territory is divided into 35 académies, 26 of which are located in mainland France and 9 in French overseas territories. One académie often spans a few départements, the most commonly used administrative unit in France. Académies also cover French schools located abroad so that the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, for example, falls under the jurisdiction of the Lille académie.
The académie headquarters (termed rectorat) is usually located in the largest city in the concerned territory. It is headed by a recteur. The main responsibility of the académie is to manage personnel and state budgets pertaining to the education system. It serves as a link between regional specificities and the centralised governing body in Paris. It ensures the implementation of the official educational programs produced by the Ministry.
At one level down in the national education hierarchy, each département also has its own 'inspection académique' (academic inspection), headed by an inspecteur d'académie (academy inspector).
Note that the académie, as an education-based territorial unit, has no relation with l'Académie française, the authoritative body concerning the French language.
[edit] School calendar
| Zone | Académies |
|---|---|
| A | Caen, Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Rennes, Toulouse |
| B | Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Besançon, Dijon, Lille, Limoges, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Poitiers, Reims, Rouen, Strasbourg |
| C | Bordeaux, Créteil, Paris, Versailles |
In the Metropolitan territory, the school year extends from early-September to early-July. Most students have finished their year by Bastille Day, 14 July. The school calendar is standardised throughout the country, and is the sole domain of the ministry.
For the 2005-2006 school year, the first day of classes across the country was 2 September 2005. The year ends on 4 July 2006.
But in the secondary, school year may finish before these days because the schools need time to organize the exams like the Baccalauréat.
In French overseas departments and territories, the school calendar is set by the local recteur.
Major holiday breaks are as follows:
- All Saints (la Toussaint), one and a half weeks around the end of October and the beginning of November;
- Christmas (Noël), two weeks around Christmas Day and New Year's Day;
- winter (hiver), two weeks starting in mid-February;
- spring (printemps) or Easter (Pâques) , two weeks starting in mid-April;
- summer (été), two months starting in early-July.
All Saints, Christmas and summer vacations occur simultaneously across the country. For the winter and spring breaks, the country is divided into three zones (A, B, and C) and each zone's vacation dates are shifted by one or two weeks to prevent families from crowding up in popular destinations such as ski and seashore resorts.
Obtain the official school calendar
[edit] Primary education
| Maternelle (Kindergarten) | ||
| Age | Grade | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| 3 -> 4 | Petite section | PS |
| 4 -> 5 | Moyenne section | MS |
| 5 -> 6 | Grande section | GS |
| École élémentaire (Primary school) | ||
| Age | Grade | Abbreviation |
| 6 -> 7 | Cours préparatoire | CP / 11ème |
| 7 -> 8 | Cours élémentaire première année | CE1 / 10ème |
| 8 -> 9 | Cours élémentaire deuxième année | CE2 / 9ème |
| 9 -> 10 | Cours moyen première année | CM1 / 8ème |
| 10 -> 11 | Cours moyen deuxième année | CM2 / 7ème |
Schooling in France is required and mandatory as of age 6, the first year of primary school. Many parents start sending their children earlier though, around age 3 as kindergarten classes (maternelle) are usually affiliated to a borough's primary school. Some even start earlier at age 2 in pré-maternelle classes, which are essentially daycare centres. The last year of maternelle, grande section is an important step in the educational process as it is the year in which pupils are introduced to reading.
After kindergarten, the young students move on to primary school. It is in the first year (cours préparatoire) that they will learn to write and perfect their reading skills. Much akin to other educational systems, French primary school students usually have a single teacher (or perhaps two) who instructs in many different disciplines, such as French, mathematics, natural sciences, history and geography to name a few (the latter two are seldom separated). Note that the French word for a teacher at the primary school level is professeur (previously called instituteur, or its feminine form institutrice).
Religious instruction is not supplied by public schools. Laïcité (secularism) is one of the main precepts of the French republic. Pupils therefore have civics courses to teach them about la République, its function, its organization, and its famous motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Freedom, equality, brotherhood).
In a March 2004 ruling, the French government banned all "conspicuous religious symbols" from schools and other public institutions with the intent of preventing proselytisation and to foster a sense of tolerance among ethnic groups. Some religious and libertarian groups showed their opposition, saying the law hindered the freedom of religion as protected by the French constitution.
[edit] Secondary education
| Collège (Junior High) | ||
| Age | Grade | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| 11 -> 12 | Sixième | 6e |
| 12 -> 13 | Cinquième | 5e |
| 13 -> 14 | Quatrième | 4e |
| 14 -> 15 | Troisième | 3e |
| Lycée (High school) | ||
| Age | Grade | Abbreviation |
| 15 -> 16 | Seconde | 2nde |
| 16 -> 17 | Première | 1ere |
| 17 -> 18 | Terminale | Term or Tle |
French secondary education is divided into two schools:
- the collège for the first four years directly following primary school;
- the lycée for the next three years.
The completion of secondary studies leads to the baccalauréat.
[edit] Brevet des collèges
The Brevet des collèges is the first official diploma a pupil has to sit. It is not required in order to enter high school (lycée).
The school marks for the whole of the final year (3ème) and the year before it (4ème) are taken into account for half of the mark. However starting from 2007 only the marks from the final year (3ème) will be taken into consideration. The other half of the mark consists of the final exam, the brevet. Pupils are only tested on French, mathematics and history/geography, for the exam.
[edit] Baccalauréat
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For more details on this topic, see Baccalauréat.
The baccalauréat (also known as bac) is the end-of-lycée diploma students sit for in order to enter university, a classe préparatoire, or professional life. The term baccalauréat refers to the diploma and the examinations themselves. It is comparable to English & Welsh A-Levels, American SATs or ACTs, the Irish Leaving Certificate, Australia's Higher School Certificate and the German Abitur.
Most students sit for the baccalauréat général which is divided into 3 streams of study, called séries. The série scientifique (S) is concerned with the natural sciences, physics or mathematics (a lot of streams exist, one of which is called série scientifique sciences de l'ingénieur (SSI), a série scientifique baccalauréat with two more specializations, génie électrique and génie mécanique. There is also the Bac STI, Sciences & industrial technologies. There also exists the option génie mécanique & the options electrotechnique), the série économique et sociale (ES) with social sciences, and the série littéraire (L) focuses on French and foreign languages and philosophy. However, these séries are not exactly specializations and every bac-possessor has the right to integrate any public university in his catchment area if this applies to the subject he wishes to apply for. Students having followed the L series do not have enough scientific knowledge from high school alone to succeed in science university courses, therefore some combinations of baccalauréats and university courses are very rare.
There is also the baccalauréat technologique and baccalauréat professionnel.
[edit] Tertiary education
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[edit] Higher Education
Higher education in France is divided into grandes écoles and universities. Grandes écoles are considered more prestigious than universities and their selection procedure is highly competitive. For example, the most prestigious engineering grandes école, École Polytechnique, have about 12 000 candidates for 400 places.
A striking trait of French higher education, compared with other countries, is the small size and multiplicity of establishments, each specialized in a more or less broad spectrum of disciplines. A middle-sized French city, such as Grenoble or Nancy, may have 2 or 3 universities (for instance: science / sociological studies), and also a number of engineering and other specialized higher education establishments. For instance, in Paris and suburbs, there are 13 universities, none of which are specialized in one area or another, and a large number of smaller institutions which are very specialized.
It is not uncommon for graduate teaching programs (master's degrees, the course part of PhD programs etc.) to be operated in common by several institutions, allowing the institutions to present a larger variety of courses.
In engineering schools such as École Polytechnique, it is not uncommon that a large share of the teaching staff is not made up of permanent professors, but of part-time professors hired to teach one specific point only. These part-time professors are generally hired from neighboring universities, research institutes, or industry.
Another originality of the French higher education system is that a large share of the scientific research is not done by universities, but by research establishments such as CNRS or INSERM. In many cases, the research units of those establishments are installed inside universities (or other higher education establishments), and jointly operated by the research establishment and the university.
These traits can cause international university rankings to underestimate French universities due to the criteria used[citation needed], but however in spite of all these Times world universities ranking placed École Polytechnique tenth among world universities and Professional Ranking of world universities placed École Polytechnique fourth among all world universities, and HEC Paris fifth.
[edit] Tuition Costs
Another characteristic is the low tuition costs. Since higher education is funded by the state, the fees are very low: the tuition varies from 150€ to 700€ depending on the university and the different levels of education. (licence, master, doctorat). One can therefore get a Master's degree (in 5 years) for about 750-3,500€. Additionally, students from low-income families can apply for scholarships, paying nominal sums for tuition or textbooks, and even getting a monthly stipend up to 450€/month.
The tuition in public engineering schools is comparable to universities, albeit a little higher (around 700€). However it can reach 7000€ a year for private engineering schools, and some business schools, which are all private or partially private, charge up to 12000€ a year.
Health insurance for students is free (if they get a scholarship) until the age of 25, so only the living costs and books expenses have to be added.
Although this is the case in many schools, some schools that are public have other ways of gaining money. Some do not receive sufficient funds from the government to hold many trips and things. These schools may ask for a small (optional) entrance fee for new students.
[edit] Universities in France
The public universities in France are named after the big cities near which they are located, followed by a number if there are several. Paris, for example, has thirteen universities, labeled Paris I to XIII, most of them are however not in Paris itself, but in the suburbs. In addition, most of the universities have taken a more informal name which is usually the one of a personality or a particular place. Sometimes, it is also a way to honor a famous alumnus. For example, the science university in Strasbourg is known as "Université Louis Pasteur" while its official name is "Université Strasbourg I".
The French system is currently undergoing a reform, the Bologna process, which aims at creating European standards for University studies, most notably a similar time-frame everywhere, with three years devoted to the Bachelor's degree (licence in French), two for the Master's, and three for the doctorate. French universities have also adopted the ECTS credit system (for example a licence is worth 180 credits). However, the traditional curricula based on end of semester examinations still remains in place in most universities. This double standard has added complexity to a system which also remains quite rigid. It is for example difficult to change a major during undergraduate studies without losing a semester or even a whole year. Students usually also have few course selection options once they enroll in a particular diploma.
- See also: List of public universities in France
[edit] Grandes écoles & CPGE
The Grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public universities. They are generally focused on a single subject area, such as engineering or business, have a moderate size, and are often quite selective in their admission of students. They are widely regarded as prestigious, and traditionally have produced most of France's scientists and executives.
The classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE) is a prep course with the main goal of training students for enrollment in a Grande École ; of which the best known and prestigious are Lycée Saint-Louis, Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, Lycée Henri IV or Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève for instance. Admission to the CPGE is usually based on performance during the last two years of high school, called Première and Terminale. The CPGE are located within high schools but pertain to tertiary education, which means that each student must have passed successfully their Baccalauréat (or equivalent) to be admitted in CPGE. Each CPGE receives the files of hundreds of applicants worldwide every year during April and May, and selects its new students under its own criteria (mostly excellency). A few CPGE programmes, mainly the private CPGEs (which account for 10% of CPGEs), also have an interview process or look at a student's involvement in the community.
CPGE programs have a nominal duration of two years, but the second year is sometimes repeated once, mostly in the scientific sections, where the student gets then the status of cinq demi ("five halves"), for he was only a trois demi ("three halves") during his first second year. The explanation behind those names is that the most coveted engineering school is the Ecole Polytechnique, nicknamed the X (as the mathematical unknown). In French, a student is said to integrate a school when they are allowed to enroll in it. A student is called a 3/2 if he integrates the Ecole Polytechnique between his first and second year of preparatory class since the integral of x from 1 to 2 is 3/2. The same idea is valid for "cinq demi", since the integral of x from 2 to 3 is 5/2. Students enrolled in their second second-year are also called "carrés" (squares), and a few turn to "cubes" for a third and final second-year. These terms probably stem from repeated attempts at applying to "X" (Polytechnique), yielding x2 and x3. Some ambitious professors encourage their top students to eschew admittance to other prestigious schools in order to try their hand at X one more time. .. Despite this high standard, the 30 000 students in classes préparatoires must face the fact that they won't all go to the Ecole Polytechnique. The renowned engineering schools Centrale Paris, Supélec, École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, École nationale des ponts et chaussées, École nationale supérieure des télécommunications, Supaéro, ESPCI or École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers , all member schools of ParisTech are also a proud goal to obtain for these students.
The oldest CPGEs are the scientific ones, which can only be accessed by scientific Bacheliers. Scientific CPGE are called MPSI ("Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Science"), PCSI ("Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering Science") or PTSI ("Physics, Technology, and Engineering Science") in the first year, MP ("Mathematics and Physics"), PSI ("Physics and Engineering Science"), PC ("Physics and Chemistry") or PT ("Physics and Technology") in the second year. The classes which especially train students for admission to the elite Écoles Normales Supérieures or Ecole Polytechnique have an "*" added to their name, e.g. MP*.
First year CPGE students are called the 'Math Sup' - or Hypotaupe - (Sup for "Classe de Mathématiques Supérieures", superior in French, meaning post-high school), and second years 'Math Spé' - or Taupe - (Spés standing for "Classe de Mathématiques Spéciales", special in French). The students of these classes are called Taupins. Both the first and second year programmes include as much as sixteen hours of mathematics teaching per week, ten hours of physics, two hours of philosophy, two to four hours of (one or two) foreign languages teaching and two to three hours of minor options: either SI, Engineering Industrial Science or Theoretical Computer Science (including some programming using the Pascal or CaML programming languages, as a practical work). With this is added several hours of homework, which can rise as much as the official hours of class. A known joke among those students is that they are becoming monks for two years. Sometimes three.
The literary and humanities CPGEs have also their own nicknames, Hypokhâgne for the first year and Khâgne for the second year. The students are called the khâgneux. These classes prepare for schools such as Écoles Normales Supérieures, Ecole des Chartes, and sometimes Sciences Po.
There are also CPGE which are focused on economics (who prepare the admission in business schools). These latter are known as "Prépa EC" and are split in two parts ("prépa EC spe mathematics" , generally for those who graduated the baccalaureat S and "prépa EC spe éco" , for those who were in the economics section in the lycée.). The most famous of those business schools are HEC School of Management, ESSEC, ESCP-EAP, EM Lyon, EDHEC which propose a Master degree and an MBA.
The students of CPGE are also matriculated in universities, and can rejoin college in case of failure of their grandes écoles ambitions or if they just do not wish to become engineers and feel not able to pass the Écoles Normales Supérieures competitive examinations. The ratio of students who failed to enter grandes écoles is low in the scientifics and economics CPGE, but high in humanities, for the only Grandes Écoles aimed in these classes are the Écoles Normales Supérieures.
The amount of work required of the students is exceptionally high. In addition to class time and homework, students spend several hours each week completing exams and 'colles' (very often written 'khôlles' to look like a Greek word, this way of writing being initially a khâgneux joke). The so called 'colles' are unique to French academic education in CPGEs. They consist of oral examinations twice a week, in math, physics, French and the foreign languages, usually English and Spanish. Students, usually in groups of three, spend an hour facing a professor alone in a room, answering questions and solving problems. In CPGE littéraires (humanities), the system of 'colles' is a bit different. They are taken every quarter in every subject. Students have one hour to prepare a short presentation that takes the form of a French-style dissertation (a methodologically codified essay, typically structured in 3 parts: thesis, counter-thesis, and synthesis) in history, philosophy, etc. on a given topic, and that of a commentaire composé (a methodologically codified commentary) in literature and foreign languages; as for the Ancient Greek or Latin, they involve a translation and a commentary. The student then has 20 minutes to present his work to the teacher, who ends the session by asking some questions on the presentation and on the corresponding topic. 'Colles' are regarded as extremely stressful, particularly due to the high standards expected by the teachers, and the subsequent harshness that may be directed at students who do not perform adequately. But they are important in as much as they prepare the students, from the very first year, to the oral part of the competitive examination, reserved to the happy few who successfully pass the written part.
Recruitment of teachers
Traditionally, primary teachers were educated in Ecoles Normales and secondary teachers by the Agrégation examination. The situation has been diversified by the introduction of the lower level CAPES examination for secondary teachers and more recently by the institution of Instituts Universitaires pour la Formation des Maîtres. University teachers are recruited by special commissions. However many of the successful candidates still have the Agrégation qualification and a large number have been trained at the Ecoles Normales Supérieures.
[edit] Statistics for education in France
The French Republic has 63 million inhabitants, living in the 22 regions of metropolitan France and four overseas departments (1.7 million). Despite the fact that the population is growing slightly (up 0.4% a year), the number and proportion of young people under 25 are, however, falling: there are now fewer than 19 million of them in metropolitan France, or 32% of the total population, compared with 40% around 1970 and 35% at the time of the 1990 census. France is seeing a slow aging of the population — less marked however than in other neighbouring countries (Germany and Italy), especially as the annual number of births is currently increasing slightly.
18 million pupils and students, i.e. a quarter of the population, are in the education system. Just over 2 million are in higher education.
In 1999, France's GDP was close to FF 9,000 billion (EUR 1,330 billion), i.e. FF 150,000 (EUR 22,000) per inhabitant. Of this total, just over FF 600 billion (EUR 95 billion) were devoted to initial or continuing education: 7.2% of GDP. As far as school education spending is concerned, France is in a middle position, behind the Nordic countries (Sweden and Denmark), but fairly significantly ahead of Italy and Japan.
France has a workforce today of 26 million, of whom fewer than 2 million are unemployed: the unemployment rate recently fell to below 9%. 6% of the labor force (about 1.5 million jobs, including 1 million civil servants and local government officers) are undergoing training.
[edit] See also
- Minister of National Education (France)
- Agence pour l'Enseignement Français à l'Etranger
- Home Education in France
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