Bac exams: choice of texts, best marks retained ... Jean-Michel Blanquer specifies his arrangements

Since Sunday, Jean-Michel Blanquer seemed to pave the way for a development of the Bac tests, in particular of philosophy or of the great oral, but refused the full passage to the continuous control despite the mobilization of high school students, in part opposed to the holding of the final tests face-to-face.

This Wednesday, during an intervention on the JT of France 2, the Minister of Education finally provided a hybrid response.

"Regarding philosophy, the demand [of high school students] was continuous assessment," he recalled.

Then to announce: “We are going to do that and go beyond.

There will be the continuous assessment and the final test and we will maintain the best of the two marks.

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Regarding the grand oral test, "we maintain the organization, I think it's good for the students to train for that," said Jean-Michel Blanquer from the outset.

But there will be adjustments: "the possibility of coming with a message from your teacher, who will be able to indicate the areas which could not be studied", for example.

Students will also be allowed to keep, during the oral, the notes taken during the 20 minutes of preparation.

For the French, which concerns the students of first, "we maintain the tests", specified the minister, but he has, there again, envisaged an arrangement: the pupil will have the choice between two texts at the time of the oral on the 14 that were prepared in class.

A "benevolent and pragmatic" solution

Earlier in the day, the Minister of Education had said he wanted to quickly arrive at a “benevolent and pragmatic” solution on the arrangements for the 2021 session. For this first bac of the reform introduced by Jean-Michel Blanquer, which was marred by the health crisis, the continuous assessment represents for the moment 82% of the final mark of the exam, the written test of philosophy and that of the grand oral corresponding to the remaining 18%.

“Yesterday I received the high school organizations by videoconference, we are also discussing today with the organizations representing the personnel […] Our objective is to maintain the value of the diploma, to bring the students towards success […] in conditions that are good for them, ”the minister explained to the Senate, before speaking to the French at the JT de France.

He also said he wanted "as much as possible" a terminal ordeal. "But at the same time, we are looking for arrangements so that they (the pupils) can succeed, which is why there will, for example, very likely be measures so that a pupil, when he arrives at an oral examination, can indicate the parts of the program that have not been seen, the document being signed by his teacher, ”he quoted. A solution that he has, indeed, chosen to formalize.