Don’t Move to France ... until you’ve done your homework.

Education and schooling:

Many Brits with young families take the view that France has an excellent state education system and this is a major reason for moving there. 

We thought this until we started getting emails from people saying this just wasn’t so. Recurring themes are: (i) junior school is very good (but it can be very traumatic for children to be immersed in a class where they don’t understand what is being said), (ii) senior school is better in Britain (unless your child is a very capable student), (iii) France tends to rely on rote learning, a process that may have its benefits for young children, but it does tend to create automatons who find it difficult to think for themselves - and if your child does not fit into this mould, then he or she may not do well in a French school, and (iv) an ideal school would be a blend of the best of the British and French systems.

It is worth noting that the government wants to de-centralise the Paris-centred state education system. The proposed changes are perhaps of particular interest to people with school aged children as to a certain extent they are proposing to bring the French school system in line with that of the UK – something which many would probably feel to be a backward step (although see the caveat above about the ideal school being a blend of the best of British and French).

The bill put forward by Education Minister, Luc Ferry, in spring 2003 made some drastic economic proposals that threaten to seriously undermine the quality of the French education system. Based on the principle that the current state system is too costly, the bill (projet de loi) addressed the quality of education provided. It recommended cutting back on non-teaching personnel (a reduction of 11,000 staff), including aides-éducateurs and surveillants (staff who support teachers by providing extra help for pupils with learning difficulties, running the school library, supervising playtime etc), social workers, careers advisors, school doctors and child psychologists, all of whom would have to be provided by the relevant commune, département or région.

Another proposal obliges crèches to take children up to the age of four - although in France, children currently start nursery school at three or slightly younger - thus obliging families to pay for an extra year's childcare. For some, this could be as much as €3500 - about £2500 - and of course it will allow the government to save the cost of a year's schooling in écoles maternelles across the country

Few changes are evident so far but teaching staff fear that it is only a matter of time before the government starts to implement its proposals, adopting a softly-softly approach.

The French University system runs on 2 levels: The Grandes Ecoles (found mainly in Paris but in other larger cities too) cater to those wanting to study for the professions e.g. Medicine, Engineering etc. Only the brightest and the best gain entry to these schools via special examinations; for the rest there are other universities to which anyone who has passed their Baccalaureate is entitled to go. This means that many courses are over subscribed and the lecture halls are simply not big enough to accommodate all the students (particularly in popular arts subjects), so most lectures are actually published, so that those unable to attend can read the text of the lectures.

Click here to read readers’ comments regarding education and schooling in France.

Click here to return to the main Don’t Move to France section.

On a personal note, I moved school and country a lot when I was a kid and hated each move - the disruption, losing friends, getting to grips with a new culture, the difference in schooling and so on. Generally speaking though, when I was younger, I soon adapted and learned to love my new country. Two caveats are (i) I was moved from one English speaking culture to another, but even then I would be teased about my accent and (ii) as a teenager, found myself being bullied because I was “not from here” and although I never made an issue out of it, I made up my mind not to like where I was and to leave as soon as I was able (which I did - and twenty years later my parents are still there and, after a very circuitous route, I’m back in England). Deep down I still resent the fact that my parents put my sisters and me through this.

Site sponsor: Stop Snoring with Sleep Pro