The French Education System

The education system in France is very well planned out, however there are a few
problems that the system encounters. The education system is similar to the United States
because there is an elementary, middle, and high school section that each student has to pass to
be enabled to move on to the next level. In France the levels are primary (elementary), college
(middle), and lycee (high school). When or if the students make it past the two years in lycee
then they call their third final year the terminale. All students who want to either make it into a
successful job or move on to a higher level of education must take a test called the baccalaureat.
The problems that this system is encountering is that the students in primary schools are not
getting enough fundings and possess poorly trained teachers. The formal education system goes
from ages six to sixteen years old and after they age of sixteen they student is no longer
accounted for attendance wise. Lastly, there are no standardized testing, the only test that
students are pressured to take is the baccalaureat.
The Frances education does not get a lot of funding for the government. The government
helps primary schools with about twenty percent of their total proceeds. Leaving the rest of the
budget for the school and teachers to make up on their own for their classroom. In order for
schools to raise proceeds is having school fundraisers to make up for the lack of fundings
(Mcpartland). There are also a percentage of teachers who are not properly trained. This results
into disorganization in the classroom, and students not learning the adequate lessons that they
need to be able to move onto their next level of education. While it is not common for a student
to get held back, if they are not ready for the next level they may have to repeat that year. The
student can be opted out of repeating the year if it is discussed by the parents and teacher of the
child. However, it depends on the year they are in and if that child may want to switch their
specialty if they are older (discoverfrance.net).

The range of ages that are a part of the formal education in France are the ages six
through sixteen. This could be a beneficial situation for a student or have a negative effect. After
a student turns sixteen they are given the choice whether or not they want to continue to attend
school or leave and begin to work. The students have the choice to take the baccalaureat test,
however if they were just going to finish school and not take it seriously they are not going to be
able to pass the test. The system is passed on getting good results in school in order to be able
to have a successful future (Mcpartland). If the student does not take their education seriously
and then stops attending after the age of sixteen will lead to a challenging life of finding a
feasible job or building a career. At the age of sixteen, the student is still growing up and is
technically not fully mature yet. Why should a sixteen year old student be given the opportunity
to decide what they want to do with their future? The age range should be extended, along with
the attendance.
With sixteen year olds being given the opportunity to make the choice whether or not
they want to take the baccalaureat test leads to a vast population of students who may or may
not be meeting standards. There are no standardized testing that take place each year or any other
forms of testing that can be taken to receive access into higher levels of education. With
standardized testing not being enforced can lead to students not gaining information that they
may need to be completely successful in life. They could lack in areas that involve common
sense or other real life situations (france24.com).
Overall France has a very successful education system, they have a seventy-two percent
success rate, with the European average being seventy-four percent. It is two percent below the
average however, it is still successful and there are still students who are passing the exit test to
move on to higher education. Every education system has its flaws, and France is still successful
even with the flaws that are in its system now (france24.com).
Sources:

French educational system. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-158/protocol/socialmatters/article/french-educational-system
France's Educational System. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Education/DF_education2.shtml
France - French less educated than other Europeans. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25,
2015, from http://www.france24.com/en/20140225-france-education-schoolsranking-europe/
Mcpartland, B. (n.d.). Are the French really the 'better educated race'? Retrieved
March 25, 2015, from http://www.thelocal.fr/20130822/are-the-french-really-abetter-educated-race