The educational system

The educational system is extremely important in France, more than 15million people (both teachers and students) have a direct link with it which represents 1/4^th of the total population. The Preamble of French constitution sets out that “the Nation guarantees equal access for children and adults to education, vocational training and culture” and therefore considerable means are implemented to succeed it. The annual cost of this institution is evaluated at 6% of the French GDP (66 billion Euros) and there were more than 880 068 teachers in 2006/2007. As a result French population is highly educated and more than 70% of French student has an A-level and 20% of these have further degrees.

The education system is a reflection of the French economy: highly centralized. Here, it is the ministry for education which gives instructions to all regional academies which have to follow the orders.

There are 2 different types of school establishment:

-          Private

-          Public

Nowadays, the public schools are in majority (more than 80%) and are only financed by the ministry of education whereas private ones receive most of their funds from student’s parent. Moreover, private schools are generally based on religious basis (essentially catholic) and some religious courses can be taught to student. However, since 1882, all French schools must be secular therefore the general education mustn’t be changed or influenced by religions.
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The different stages in education

The French education system distinguishes 3 different steps in the learning advancement of each student:

-          Primary section

-          Secondary section

-          Superior level

The primary section comprises children between 3-4 years old until 10-11 years old student(when they arrive in the 6^th class), they enter then in the second stage which will lead them to the Baccalaureat degree which is the equivalent of A-level(generally at 18years old).

However, in this 2nd stage there are 2 different steps and 2 different paths. Therefore it is important to quickly make the right call because you will have to take important decision very soon. In the first part of the secondary education which is called “college”, all courses are obligatory and every student from 11years old to 15 must have completed it. Then, comes the “lycee” and student have the possibility to continue studying until the Baccalaureat final exam or quit the general educational path (at 16 years old) and choose a “Baccalaureat professionel”. This degree is for student who aims to start career in specific jobs such as : butchers and bakers for example.

After succeeding the Baccalaureat, you enter in the final step of the education system and you will have to make a choice between all the different options available to you. Generally most of students opt to enter in one of the 77 French universities and only 5% of them choose the elite section where the best business, applied science and engineering establishments are.  This elite section is extremely selective and only the best students are chosen after 2 years of hard study called “classe preparatoire”.

The OECD has published its annual report on all the national education systems after observing more than 3000 young students all around the world. France is ranked at a disappointing 21^st place close to Germany and the USA but far from the leaders Singapore, Finland and South Korea. In fact, the study has shown that France maintains its ranking thanks to the great performance of its elite student but is slowed down by the raise of student in educational failure.