To review or not to review?
This is the question for the 750,000 baccalaureate candidates.
In less than a month, on June 17, the terminales will work on the philosophy test, those of the first, on French writings.
Then, from June 21 to July 2, place for the oral French and the grand oral, the main novelty of the diploma, which could not be held last year because of the epidemic.
But with what motivation?
And above all, what is at stake?
If the exams were maintained, they were also largely redesigned to facilitate the task of the candidates and thus take into account "the particular circumstances" of preparation of the test, recognized Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of National Education in a letter to staff sent on May 5 to detail the arrangements.
What value for the diploma?
In short: in philosophy, it is the best mark that will be kept (the average of the continuous assessment or the result of the final test), while the jury of the grand oral will be warned of parts of the program not seen in progress.
The candidate will also have the opportunity to have his notes in front of him.
In French, the texts to be presented will be duplicated.
As for the specialty courses, they have switched to continuous monitoring.
Result: a "benevolent and pragmatic solution", according to Jean-Michel Blanquer ... but which transformed the traditional spring cramming into a period "with zero stress, or almost, without removing the doubts of teenagers about their future", summarizes Benoît , teacher in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Because, in the opinion of all, if the success rate should be important (in 2020, while the baccalaureate was entirely in continuous assessment, it had approached 96%, eight points more than in 2019), the questions on the value of the diploma persist.
Read also Covid-19: the fear of a two-speed ferry
“There is really only one test to prepare for the terminal, philosophy. The stress is reduced, especially since if they fail, the note is not retained. It can be seen: unlike in usual years, high school students do not desert the establishment to revise at home, ”summarizes Bruno Bobkiewicz, new secretary general of SNPDEN-Unsa, the union of principals, himself head of establishment in the Val -de-Marne.
However, he assures that it is not yet vacations in the minds of teenagers. “There are still courses and homework until the beginning of June
(Editor's note: the third trimester is taken into account in the continuous assessment of specialty teaching)
. They also live the uncertainty linked to the fact that the year is special, that their baccalaureate will be quite easy to obtain, notes the principal. It's not just a journalist's whim! What will their diploma be worth? How will the transition to higher education take place? These questions are moving them right now. "