The State’s main budget (66.5 billion euros), an administrative behemoth, a cruise liner (12.4 million students, 855,000 teachers) difficult to govern because many (too many) meddle with it (politicians, professionals, families), the school is the object of all desires, dreams, and sometimes nightmares.
It is an eternal reform that everyone demands and everyone criticizes; it is the key to our future: without knowledge, nothing is possible without it for an individual or a society.
It is also a privileged place for the formation of our values and consciences: this is where the Republic shapes its citizens.
The start of the 2015 school year is no exception to the tensions of all those that preceded it… and all those that will follow.
Last year, there was the drama (admittedly organized for political reasons) of the school cycle reform; this year, we will have moral and civic education for everyone, the overhaul of kindergarten programs, and announced, in the short term, as presented in September for implementation as early as next year, changes to the certificate for first and third year of secondary school as well as a revamp of the grading system.
The school educates, and more and more French people are being educated: certificate, baccalaureate, higher education. The figures confirm this effort and the results that come with it.
Nevertheless, this positive trend conceals more complex realities. The flow of “school dropouts” remains high: every year, around 140,000 young people leave the education system without a qualification equivalent to the baccalaureate.
So…
A sociologist by training, a man of culture with many facets, a professor of communication and information (which is just as well…), Emmanuel Ethis* (47 years old, a youngster for the role!) is experiencing his first position as Rector of the Academy.
Accompanied by a staff that highlights his team-working concept, he speaks clearly and has an optimistic approach: “We must be proud of our school,” he said during the presentation of the school year starting this morning.
“A school that must be demanding and fair,” he continued, “for a fairer future for our youth.”
In the face of recent political controversies, his position is clear: “Reforms should be the opportunity for collective debate.”
For him, “the school is the representation of the social contract: republican values are stronger than we are.”
Aside from this conversation, two interesting pieces of information: one, the territorial reform in the implementation phase will not affect the organization of the Academies. Therefore, the one in Nice (which will celebrate its half-century this year) will not be merged with that of Marseille-Aix as was feared.
The other, despite all the rumors spread (due to lack of information or other political utility), schools are not places of indiscipline and subversions. The various episodes of inappropriate behavior and some violence are contained within quite acceptable proportions within their own context.
Teachers and instructors are not left alone and abandoned either: internal services play a role of monitoring and daily intervention.
As it was said: “if we don’t communicate much, it’s also because there isn’t much to say.”
The major developments of the 2015 school year
The implementation of the new kindergarten program, the implementation of student assessments in French and mathematics starting in the second grade but also the primary school is at the heart of concerns, the new map of priority education, the preparation of the college reform in 2016, digital technology to develop students’ skills and the right to return to education.
The academy is committed to better transmitting the values of the Republic, which is reflected by the establishment of the citizenship pathway, the implementation of the new moral and civic education, training in the teaching of secularism and the values of the Republic, the establishment of the citizen reserve of national education and civic service, a global approach to the school climate, the fight against school bullying, the establishment of a culture of equality between girls and boys and a greater openness to Europe and the world.
- Emmanuel Ethis, professor in information and communication sciences, was appointed rector of the Academy of Nice on July 31, 2015. He chaired the University of Avignon and the Vaucluse countries since 2007 and was a member of the board of directors of the CPU (Conference of University Presidents) from June 2012.
He graduated from the EHESS (School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) and is a sociologist of the arts and culture.
Since December 2013, he has been vice-president of the High Council for Artistic and Cultural Education.
Decorations: Knight of the Legion of Honor, Knight of the National Order of Merit, Knight of the Order of Academic Palms, Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters
The CGT Educ’Action 06 and the Departmental Trade Union Coordination CGT of Territorial Agents denounce the conditions of the 2015 school year in National Education.
Regarding the teaching and non-teaching staff of National Education, the CGT Educ’Action 06 calls for a strike on September 4: a gathering is planned at 12:30 in front of the rectorate.
