(Adnkronos) – By the end of October, “improvements” to Parcoursup, the digital platform used in France to manage applications for access to post-baccalaureate education, will be proposed to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. This was announced today on Bfmtv-Rmc by French Education Minister Édouard Geffray, who at the same time ruled out any reform of the baccalaureate exam “six months before the presidential elections”.
“Everything is on the table for reflection,” he said, specifying that his colleague responsible for higher education, Philippe Baptiste, will propose the “improvements” to the Parcoursup platform. “The Prime Minister has asked to propose a series of improvements, reflections, and reforms,” Édouard Geffray specified, while the mobilization of high school students continues – albeit in a more subdued manner.
The minister then stated he was against abolishing the platform: “I don’t know what we would put in its place if we abolished it,” he replied, saying he was open “to making changes, even substantial ones.” “For me, the real issue is not so much the tool as the objectives,” the minister added. “The objective, for me, is very clear: to allow students to continue their higher education where their abilities allow and where they wish,” as well as to pursue “a goal of social mix.” “Everyone forgets that Parcoursup has fostered an unprecedented social and geographical mix,” he states.
“We will have a chance to revisit this at the end of October; it’s not an issue that can be resolved in an instant,” he pointed out, explaining that “less than 20%” of the 90,000 observations received by the government on the platform created to collect feedback from high school students concern the guidance system. As for a reform of the baccalaureate exam, the Minister of Education categorically closes the door. “I will not change the exam six months before the presidential elections; we must stop constantly reforming,” he declares. “We have offered our students the opportunity to truly choose a path they like: we must not nullify all this for organizational reasons.”
“On the substitute teacher front, I have been intervening for a year, and results are starting to show. Regarding school rhythms, I said I would delve deeper into the issue so that the next minister can make decisions, but I will not announce a reform now only to see it dismantled in six months,” Geffray added. “I will not intervene now: it would be madness.”
