The French education system stands accused of every imaginable evil: condemned for its mediocre performance in international league tables, it is also blamed for failing to remedy the inequalities associated with pupils’ social origins or for misconceiving its essential objectives, and the teachers themselves are accused of failing in their duties. However, says Fabien Truong, there never was a golden age of social mobility in France and studies on the subject are not comparable over the long run because of population change. The new fact since the 1960s is that children from low-income backgrounds entering school are much more numerous and much more diverse (with parents who have little or no schooling) and possess less cultural capital. Some of them do, however, succeed and climb the social ladder, while others fail to do so, mainly for want of better support structures. Hence, we see some leave — and break free of — the inner cities, while the most deprived populations continue to cluster there.
If the level is falling — always assuming that it is being correctly measured — it is because we are comparing a small number of privileged students with a large number from more diverse social backgrounds, who really ought to receive more attention and resources if they are to avoid academic failure and social exclusion. But that would involve teaching staff being able to spend more time listening to and understanding them; paying attention to their personal development and not simply to their acquisition of academic knowledge; and developing their life skills and promoting harmonious coexistence, without forcing everyone to follow the same path. In substance, education in France would have to be recognized as a national priority.
This article is downloadable only in French. It is not available in English.
