French Educational System

Education in France is organized in a highly centralized manner, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of primary education (''enseignement primaire''), secondary education (''enseignement secondaire''), and higher education (''enseignement supérieur''). The main age that a child starts school in France is age 2. Two year olds do not start primary school, they start preschool. Then, by the age of six, a child in France starts primary school and soon moves onto higher and higher grade levels until they graduate.

In French higher education, the following degrees are recognized by the Bologna Process (EU recognition): ''Licence'' and ''Licence Professionnelle'' (bachelor's degrees), and the comparably named ''Master'' and ''Doctorat'' degrees.

The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD in 2018 ranked the overall knowledge and skills of French 15-year-olds as 26th in the world in reading literacy, mathematics, and science, below the OECD average of 493.https://www.oecd.org/pisa/Combined_Executive_Summaries_PISA_2018.pdf The average OECD performance of French 15-year-olds in science and mathematics has declined, with the share of low performers in reading, mathematics and science developing a sharp upward trend. France's share of top performers in mathematics and science has also declined.

France's performance in mathematics and science at the middle school level was ranked 23 in the 1995 Trends in International Math and Science Study. In 2019, France ranked 21 in the TIMSS Science general ranking.

History

Napoleon began the French university and secondary educational systems. Guizot started the elementary system. Intense battles took place over whether the Catholic Church should play a dominant role. The modern era of French education begins at the end of the 19th century. Jules Ferry, a Minister of Public Instruction in 1841, is widely credited for creating the modern school (''l'école républicaine'') by requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 12, both boys and girls, to attend. He also made public instruction mandatory, free of charge, and secular (''laïque''). With those laws, known as French Lubbers, Jules Ferry laws, and several others, the Third Republic repealed most of the Falloux Laws of 1850–1851, which gave an important role to the clergy.

The French curriculum predominantly emphasized the works of French writers of European descent. Ferry and others considered literature the glue of French identity. The ethnic and cultural demographics of the student body did not factor in to the quest to transmit a "common culture" to the students.

Like literature, history education is seen as critical to shaping the identity of young people and the integration of immigrants to French identity. Ferry's views continue to exert influence today. Ministry reports have confirmed that the rule of schools in promoting "common culture" is only made more critical by the rising levels of student diversity. According to the ministry, history education in France has, over the course of one century made possible "the integration of children of Italians, Poles, Africans and Portuguese".

Governance

All educational programmes in France are regulated by the Ministry of National Education (officially called ''Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, de la Jeunesse et de la Vie associative''). The head of the ministry is the Minister of National Education.

All teachers in public primary and secondary schools are 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 programmes and teaching directives. It is amended many times every year.

Schooling in France is not mandatory (although instruction is). Since French law mandates only ''education'', and not necessarily attendance at a school, families may provide teaching themselves, provided that they comply with the educational standards laid down in law and monitored by the State.

School year

In Metropolitan France, the school year runs from early September to early July. The school calendar is standardized throughout the country and is the sole domain of the ministry.Marie Duru-Bellat, "France: permanence and change." in Yan Wang, ed. '' Education policy reform trends in G20 members'' (Springer, 2013) pp. 19-32.

In May, schools need time to organize exams (for example, the baccalauréat). Outside Metropolitan France, the school calendar is set by the local ''recteur''.

Major holiday breaks are as follows:
* All Saints (''la Toussaint''), two weeks (since 2012) 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. (mid-June for high school students).

Primary school

Most parents start sending their children to preschool (''maternelle'') when they turn 3. Some even start earlier at age 2 in ''toute petite section'' ("''TPS''"). The first two years of preschool (TPS and ''petite section'' "''PS''") are introductions to community living; children learn how to become students and are introduced to their first notions of arithmetic, begin to recognize letters, develop oral language, etc. The last two years of preschool, ''moyenne section'' and ''grande section,'' are more school-like; pupils are introduced to reading, writing and more mathematics.

A preschool can have its own school zone (mostly true in towns) or be affiliated to an elementary school (mostly in villages). As in other educational systems, French primary school students usually have a single teacher (or two) who teaches the complete curriculum.

After kindergarten, the young students move on to the ''école élémentaire'' (elementary school). In the first 3 years of elementary school, they learn to write, develop their reading skills and get some basics in subjects such as French, mathematics, science and the arts, to name a few. Note that the French word for a teacher at the primary school level is ''professeur'' or ''professeure des écoles'' (previously called ''instituteur'', or its feminine form ''institutrice'').

Children stay in elementary school for 5 years until they are 10–11 years-old. The grades are named: CP (''cours préparatoire''), CE1 (''cours élémentaire 1''), CE2 (''cours élémentaire 2''), CM1 (''cours moyen 1'') and CM2 (''cours moyen 2'').

Middle school and high school

The compulsory middle and high school subjects cover French Language and Literature, History and Geography, Foreign Language, Arts and Crafts, Musical Education, Civics, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Technology, and PE. The curriculum is set by the Ministry of National Education and applies to most collèges in France and also for AEFE-dependent institutions. Académies and individual schools have little freedom in the state curriculum.

Class sizes vary from school to school, but usually range from 20 to 35 pupils.

After primary school, two educational stages follow:
*''collège'' (middle school), for children during their first four years of secondary education from the age of 11 to 14.
* ''lycée (''