How to improve diversity in schools? This is one of the projects of the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye who will undoubtedly take a close look at what is being done in the Paris Academy. The rectorate has just published on Wednesday February 8 the conclusions of its reform of Affelnet, the platform which distributes Third Year students in high schools. Implemented two years ago, it has made it possible to partially reduce inequalities, which were very strong in the capital.
Pupils of the same social origin and the same school level are more mixed, better distributed in the different high schools than before. However, there are still barriers to diversity. “There are a certain number of training courses which continue to recruit according to somewhat derogatory procedures: international sections, balance sheet sections, classes with flexible hours, explains Julien Grenet, the researcher who chairs the reform monitoring committee. And then, I think that we cannot do without a reflection on the place of the private sector which is today exempt from any effort, any objective of social diversity.
More social diversity at Henri IV and Louis Le Grand
One of the symbols of this reform of Affelnet concerns the two most prestigious high schools in the capital: Henri IV and Louis le Grand. The proportion of scholarship students in second has doubled to reach almost the Parisian average: one in five young people. To best accommodate these new students, the school has set up homework help, tutoring, clubs, in particular to strengthen general culture.
The principal of Lycée Henri IV, Stéphanie Motta Garcia, is delighted with this development. “For teachers, at first it’s complicated to receive a slightly more heterogeneous audienceshe acknowledges. For some it was a breath of fresh air, a way of seeing students differently. But in any case, it triggers a collective reflection and for some perhaps a questioning of their way of teaching. But the principal ensures that the requirement is the same. For the moment, the school level is stable, proof, for the rectorate, that it is possible to promote greater social openness in the elite sectors, without lowering the results.