“For one to two decades, the gap between the public and the private sector has strengthened,” explains a CNRS researcher

The Ministry of National Education unveiled, Wednesday March 20, the ranking of the best French middle and high schools. Youssef Souidi, researcher at the CNRS, specialist in educational inequalities, brings his expertise in school segregation to the 19/20 info set.

What does the data say about school segregation? “What has been very clear over the past one to two decades is that the gap between the public and the private sector has strengthened”answers Youssef Souidi, researcher at the CNRS, specialist in educational inequalities, namely that “private school students, particularly at the middle school level, are increasingly socially advantaged compared to public school students”.

Outcome gaps

If the situation was “fairly stable in the 80s and 90s”with private establishments “always more socially advantaged than the public”the situation is getting worse “since the early 2000s” according to data from the Ministry of National Education. Furthermore, differences in results are observed in the REP and REP+ zones. “If you take the REP+ establishments, approximately the 5% of the most disadvantaged establishments in France, only around ten have a written certificate mark above 10”explains Youssef Souidi.