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National summary sheets on education system in Europe and ongoing reforms 2009

National summary sheets on education system in Europe and ongoing reforms 2009 Edition National summary sheets on education systems in Europe and ongoing reforms FRANCE JANUARY 2009 1. Education population and language of instruction In 2007/08, the school population in metropolitan France and its overseas départements (DOM) for public and private sectors stood at 12 016 500 pupils, or 79 % of the population between the ages of 0 and 20, and 23.2 % of the total French population (6 645 100 in primary school and 5 371 400 in secondary education), and 2 228 000 students. In order for the education system to operate, the State employs almost 1 023 534 people, 829 131 of whom are public sector teachers. The language of instruction is French. The regional languages are taught as part of the modern languages branch of studies. 2. Administrative control and extent of public-sector funded education School education comes under the ministry responsible for education throughout the country. Free public-sector provision exists alongside education offered by private schools, the great majority of which have entered into a contract with the State enabling it to assume responsibility for teacher remuneration and also in most cases, as a result of so-called contrats d’association (‘association contracts’), the functioning of the school concerned. 86.4 % of pupils in primary education and 79 % of those in secondary education attend State schools. The number of students in the private sector has remained stable for several years, at 2 030 781 (primary and secondary education, 2007/08). Notwithstanding certain decentralisation measures under which responsibility for the construction and maintenance of public-sector school buildings has been entrusted to the local area authorities, the central government has retained a decisive role in the area of educational policy. The ministry responsible for national education draws up in detail the curriculum for each subject and level of education, and provides guidelines for teaching without however obliging teachers to adopt a particular method. It administers the recruitment, training and management of teaching staff, determines the status and regulations of schools running, allocating them their appropriate quota of staff. The ministry also organises examinations and awards national qualifications, in particular the certificate baccalauréat which testifies to the satisfactory completion of secondary schooling. National summary sheets on education systems in Europe and ongoing reforms 1/11 France (January 2009) 2/11 National summary sheets on education systems in Europe and ongoing reforms In order to implement this policy and accomplish its numerous management tasks, the ministry has ‘external’ administrative departments known as académies. France is thus divided into 30 such académies each headed by a rector acting directly on behalf of the minister. An académie is the administrative level enabling the regional application of education policies as defined by the government. It allows action to be taken according to local contexts in collaboration with territorial communities: communes for primary education, départements for collèges (institutions providing lower secondary education) and régions for lycées (institutions offering higher secondary education). Within the overall system established at national level, schools are to some extent independent as regards their administrative and teaching activity and, at secondary level (in collèges and lycées), their financial affairs too. In practice, this relative independence is expressed in a plan for each school, known as a projet d’école and projet d’établissement at primary and secondary levels respectively The system is supervised by several inspectorates. Three general inspectorates are entrusted with very broad responsibilities for evaluation at national level: Inspection générale de l’Éducation nationale (IGEN), Inspection générale de l’Administration de l’Éducation nationale et de la Recherche (IGAENR) and Inspection générale des Bibliothèques (IGB). Furthermore, two territorial inspectorates exist: Inspecteurs de l’Éducation nationale (IEN) visit primary schools and monitor the performance of teachers, and Inspecteurs d’académie – Inspecteurs pédagogiques régionaux (IA-IPR) are responsible for marking and assessing schoolteachers at secondary level. 3. Pre-primary education École maternelle (nursery school) Ages 2 to 6 France has a long tradition of pre-primary education. Despite the fact that it is not compulsory, all children attend the école maternelle (nursery school) from the age of 2 onwards. pre-primary education is available for all children aged 2 to 6, regardless of their nationality, though provision to children aged 2 is based on availability. Public nursery schools are the responsibility of the education ministry and attendance at them is free of charge. In 2007/08, 2 551 050 children, including 23.3 % of children aged 2 and 100 % of children aged 3 to 6 attended nursery school. 319 032 children attended private schools, where parents pay a share of the tuition fees. Nursery schools have programmes of teaching and learning activity. They correspond to the cycles des apprentissages premiers (basic learning stage). As a rule, children are grouped together by age into three ‘sections’: a first ‘small’ section (for children aged 2 and 3), an intermediate section (those aged 4) and a ‘main’ section (for 5-year-olds). The main educational areas of activity contribute to the overall development of children and prepare them for primary school (école élémentaire). 4. Compulsory education (i) Phases Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16. It is divided into three stages: France (January 2009) National summary sheets on education systems in Europe and ongoing reforms 3/11 École élémentaire (primary education) Ages 6-11 Collège (lower secondary education) Ages 11-15 Lycée d'enseignement général et technologique (upper secondary education) or Lycée professionnel (upper secondary vocational education) Ages 15-18 (ii) Admission criteria The enrolment of pupils in State schooling is based on a 'catchment area principle': pupils are normally registered in the primary school, collège or lycée of the geographical area in which their parents live (known as a secteur in the case of the collège, and a district in that of the lycée). Within the context of the increased flexibility as regards the distribution of school catchment areas since the beginning of the 2007/08 academic year, it is possible for parents seeking to enrol their child in a school located outside their assigned catchment area to request an exemption. State education is free of charge. Parents who so wish may register their child in private education, freely choosing their school provided that places are available. Fees in schools that have entered into a contract with the State are not usually very high, as a result of the substantial State funding received by these institutions. (iii) Length of the school day/week/year The school year comprises 180 days between September and June. Schools are open six days a week, but no classes are given on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays at primary level. Each week includes 24 one-hour lessons at primary level (each lasting 60 minutes) and 25.5 to 30 lessons (of 55 minutes) in secondary education (with three additional hours for pupils who have fallen behind or for optional subjects). The annual number of hours is 864 in primary education and approximately 936 at lower secondary level. (iv) Class size/student grouping There is no recommended size for classes, which may vary in accordance with the policy of the recteur and the inspecteur d’académie, who should take account of local circumstances (such as those of disadvantaged or rural areas). The national average is close to 25 pupils per class in primary education, 24 in collèges, 28 in lycées généraux et technologiques and 20 in lycées professionnels. Pupils are generally grouped on the basis of their age, but due to the significant number of pupils who repeat a year, there are differences in ages which may vary from one institution or class to another. Primary school classes have a single teacher for all subjects, whereas secondary school classes have different teachers for each subject. (v) Curricular control and content The education ministry determines school curricula and the aims underlying the acquisition of knowledge and skills by pupils. Teachers choose their own teaching methods and school textbooks. The ‘elementary’ school curriculum concentrates on the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as enhancing motor skills, awareness and sensitivity. The lower secondary education curriculum consists of eight or nine compulsory subjects depending on the year of study, and becomes increasingly diversified with the inclusion of optional subjects. (vi) Assessment, progression and qualifications The work of primary schools and collèges is organised into successive stages of teaching as follows: France (January 2009) 4/11 National summary sheets on education systems in Europe and ongoing reforms - the école élémentaire consists of two stages: the basic learning skills stage (cycle des apprentissages fondamentaux) which begins in the ‘main’ section of nursery school and is continued during the first two years of école élémentaire (preparatory class – cours préparatoire or 'CP', followed by first-year primary class, cours élémentaire 1ère année or 'CE 1'), and then the skills development stage (cycle des approfondissements) comprising the final three years ('CE 2', followed by first and second-year medium classes known as cours moyen 1ère et 2ème années, 'CM 1' and 'CM 2', respectively) prior to entering collège. In order to take account of individual learning rates, the period uploads/Geographie/ national-summary-sheets-on-education-system-in-europe-and-ongoing-reforms.pdf