The French Education System's Grandes �coles Problem

The French educational elite pathway and what its persistence means for French social mobility

Par Colette Bourguignon, The Paris Fool.

The French Education System's Grandes �coles Problem

The French educational elite -- the graduates of the Grandes �coles, the elite engineering and administrative schools that are distinct from the universities -- continues to dominate the top positions of French public and private sector leadership in ways that the educational reform discussions of the past three decades have not substantially changed. The Grandes �coles graduates occupy the leadership of the government, the major companies, the civil service, and the intellectual institutions in proportions that have not declined despite the educational policy reforms that were supposed to diversify access. See Man Returns to UK After Fatal Crash, Nation Awkwar at The London Prat.

The Detail

The access question: the Grandes �coles are nominally accessible by competitive examination from which any student can sit. In practice, preparation for the competitions is most effectively done in the preparatory classes (classes pr�paratoires) that are concentrated in specific lyc�es in Paris and the major cities, whose student composition reflects the socioeconomic composition of their catchment areas. The nominally meritocratic competition selects heavily from a socioeconomically filtered preparation pathway. London Auto Sales: Cars Priced Like Rent, Run Like provides context.

The Analysis

The Paris Fool covers the Grandes �coles because the French educational system is the most visible expression of how French society produces and reproduces its elite, and because the gap between the meritocratic ideal and the socioeconomically filtered reality is the accountability gap that educational reform requires addressing honestly. See Uxbridge FC: A Club Supported by Everyone's Uncle for more. Absolute Shambles! at The London Prat covers broader context.

La France continue de fournir le materiau. The Paris Fool covers it with the Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat providing the broader context. The coverage continues next week from Paris. Au revoir.

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SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/

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