A return to the common trunk but not yet an obligation. Unions and teacher representatives are not convinced by the announcements of the President of the Republic on mathematics in high school. Emmanuel Macron announced a return to math in first class in the common trunk, during a visit to Marseille on Thursday June 2, but this subject will be “optional”, “not required”. “This is an announcement that is a half measure, well below Emmanuel Macron’s initial promise of the return of mathematics to the common core from the start of the 2022 school year”reacts on franceinfo Pierre Priouret, secretary general of the Snes-FSU of the academy of Toulouse and professor of mathematics.
The Ministry of National Education specifies in a press release that mathematics is making a comeback in the common core but on an optional basis. This year is only transitory, specifies the ministry. The teaching of mathematics will become compulsory again the following year, all students in first general class will be required to take this math course in 2023.
“The government is taking a third way so as not to completely apply it from the start of the school year and also not to postpone it to 2023 because Emmanuel Macron had promised it”estimates with AFP Sophie Vénétitay, secretary general of Snes-FSU. “It’s not really a return to the common core”regrets on franceinfo Sébastien Planchenault, the president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers (APMEP). “Unfortunately, this may only be a displayhe continues. Especially if there are no more hours devoted to implementing this teaching.
“We risk reproducing in first what we already know in Terminale with the complementary mathematics option”continues Pierre Priouret, considering that it is a “extremely gendered choice that does not always allow you to pursue scientific or medical studies”. “We fear a vacuum effect in the mathematics specialty […] and an increase in inequalities, both social and gender, between girls and boys”alerts the secretary general of the Snes-FSU of the Toulouse academy, who admits that the deadlines were becoming “complicated” to ensure a return to compulsory mathematics education from September 2022.
“The risk is to see this possibility only in favored establishments”believes Sébastien Planchenault, the president of APMEP, since the implementation of this “optional option” requires more resources. For Pierre Priouret, all this “shows that there is a need to overhaul the reform of high schools to resolve, in one go, all the difficulties it generates”. “It’s a display measure, more than a real measure that solves the problems at the bottom”, he concludes. September back-to-school is coming “extremely complicated”.