What was the effect of confinement on the children's educational level?
It is in fact a small step backwards from the past year.
This is revealed by the publication, this Monday by the Ministry of Education, of national assessments carried out in September with all those entering CP, CE1 and 6e - or around 1.4 million schoolchildren. and college students.
The results show "a slight decrease in the share of students with a satisfactory mastery, regardless of the area evaluated", indicates the direction of the study and the forecast of National Education (Depp).
For example, the results in CP are down by 2 points on the exercises consisting of “manipulating syllables” in French, and by 1.8 points on “problem solving” in mathematics.
"The generation that experienced confinement arrived at CP with achievements that were less than the previous generation", summarizes Fabienne Rosenwald, director of Depp.
In CE1, confinement brought to the ground the positive results that were starting to show up in reading and writing, following the reduction in the number of students at the start of schooling, particularly in priority education areas.
In mathematics, on the other hand, the study shows "a relative stability" of the results.
Inequalities still deepened
The evaluations also show that inequalities in level have widened further, between priority education schools and those more favored, particularly in certain types of exercises such as reading aloud.
Proof, believes Edouard Geffray, number 2 of National Education, that "we cannot replace face-to-face school for knowledge as fundamental as reading and writing".
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"The progress made in 2018-2019 at the start of primary school was erased for the year 2019-2020", regrets Jean-Michel Blanquer, in a letter addressed to teachers, presenting the results.
And the Minister, to take the opportunity to reaffirm the need for "the presence of children all year round" at school, while concern grows around the prospect of a possible return to teaching in distance, in the middle of the second epidemic wave.
Best in college
The tests at the entrance to 6th, on the other hand, show results up 6 points in French, by 4 points in mathematics, in line with previous years.
Proof that distance education, as well as parental monitoring, has been more effective for these slightly older children?
At the Ministry of Education, we put more emphasis on the fact that the exercises focused on all the achievements of primary school students, "over 8 years", notes Fabienne Rosenwald, thus diluting the possible effects of confinement.
Even on the rise, moreover, the level of children in 6th remains worrying, with "a still high percentage of pupils in difficulty, especially in mathematics", notes the Depp.
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A reading aloud (fluency) test, carried out for the first time this year, also reveals that 15% of students entering 6th grade have a reading level equal to or lower than that expected at the end of CE2.
A serious gap, because it has consequences for all subjects.