Less texts in French, level groups in math specialty ... The Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, announced Monday some changes to his reform of the bac, to take into account the suggestions of the monitoring committee, installed late September.
This committee is responsible for examining a number of problems related to the reform of the bac, which started this year for the first time. In a letter addressed to the members of the committee (representatives of union, parental and high school organizations and of the administration), Jean-Michel Blanquer explains that he wants to respond favorably to some of their proposals.
Here is the letter that JM Blanquer sent to the bac reform monitoring committee today. He takes up a number of accommodation proposals that the committee had made. pic.twitter.com/sTWC2W6Xya
- 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘁 (@phwatrelot) January 6, 2020He announced that in French, the number of texts on the program, the importance of which would cause concern, will be reduced: high school students of first grade will study between 20 and 24 texts instead of the 24 initially planned. Those of technological first between 13 and 16 texts, against 16 planned.
Math skill groups
In English, "it appeared that specialty education was too focused on literary outlets," writes the minister. As a result, students will now be able to choose between "English" and "English, contemporary world".
In mathematics, one of the specialties problematic by its very high level of requirement, "it appears that it is less the program which is in question than the heterogeneity of the level of the pupils, and consequently of the classes", underlines the Minister. "This is why we are going to work to strengthen the constitution of skill groups," he writes.
The place of mathematics education was one of the main points of tension in this reform which ended, at the start of the school year, the traditional series (L, ES and S). Absent from the core curriculum, the discipline is now taught as a specialty, at the rate of four hours per week, with a very heavy program.
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Another difficulty linked to the reform of the school: the traditional class council, completely turned upside down. On this subject, the minister says he wants to follow the proposals of the monitoring committee: rather organize "specialty teaching councils" and "propose to institutions that wish to change the function of principal professor" into "referent professor of a group of students ”.