“
Raise the general level of students
” with “
a concern for social justice and the transmission of humanism
”: the Ministry of Education launched the Higher Council for Languages on Monday, January 24, with the aim of improving learning ancient and living languages, whether foreign or regional.
Read alsoDo French students (really) know how to read less and less well?
The goal is "
to ensure that this council has a direct impact on the concrete policies of our country (...) at a time when we want polyglot pupils and also pupils open to the world and for whom culture will be, with the logical, the baggage for the 21st century
”, explained the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, during this installation which was held by videoconference.
Launched in 2019, the language plan is thus experiencing a "
new stage
", showing "
that something human is at stake through the entry into the language
", he said.
“Good for our students”
The Higher Council for Languages, chaired by Carlo Ossola, philologist and professor at the Collège de France, is organized into three colleges of experts identified for foreign languages, regional languages and the languages of Antiquity. According to Jean-Michel Blanquer, "
no language is opposed to any other, the more languages we learn, the easier it is to learn other languages and in general, learning several languages is good for our students
" .
The idea is "
to have an increasingly rich and increasingly diverse linguistic offer, with new initiatives: for the languages and cultures of Antiquity, we are going to develop French and ancient culture sections at the start of the Next, we are going to give a European dimension to the teaching of Greek and Latin and this will promote mobility and more generally prestige for pupils from all geographical and social backgrounds,
” he said.
The ministry also wishes to open at the start of the next school year " Mare nostrum
" sections
in middle and high school, which will "
promote and improve the learning of Mediterranean languages, whether ancient, foreign or regional
", by making it possible for a student to “
learn Latin, Italian and Occitan together in an interdisciplinary dynamic
”.
Edouard Geffray, director general of school education (Dgesco), reminded him of the importance
of "enriching the training for teachers, whether initial or continuous
".