Programs, textbooks, needs groups, certificate, baccalaureate… The Ministry of National Education has made a barrage of announcements, which will be confirmed by Minister Anne Genetet this Tuesday.
Appointed – to everyone's surprise – Minister of National Education in the Barnier government on September 21, Anne Genetet had until now been rather discreet, announcing very few new developments. A period which suddenly ended at the start of the week, with a “brief” to journalists hastily organized on Monday November 11 at the end of the day, an interview given to AFP and a visit to Apolline de Malherbe (RMC-BFM ) this Tuesday, November 12 early in the morning, then a trip to Pierre-de-Ronsard college in L'Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne) immediately.
From kindergarten to high school, these announcements – brought together under the banner of “act 2 of the clash of knowledge”a year after “act 1” of Gabriel Attal, then tenant of Rue de Grenelle, today a deputy and president of the Macronist group in the National Assembly – are numerous. Le Figaro takes stock.
Primary
The new mathematics and French programs from kindergarten to sixth grade will come into force at the start of the school year in September 2025. These programs have already been published for cycles 1 (PS, MS, GS) and 2 (CP, CE1, CE2 ) ; those of cycle 3 (CM1, CM2 and Sixth) will be at the beginning of 2025. This will allow teachers, according to the ministry, “to train in the new features of these programs before the start of the school year”.
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At the start of the 2025 school year, the labeling of French and mathematics textbooks in CP and CE1 will also be implemented. “The choice of textbooks will remain in the hands of the teachers”which “guarantees their educational freedom”ensures Rue de Grenelle. In priority education networks (REP and REP+) and in rural municipalities, the State will finance these textbooks, which represents an expense of 9 million euros in 2025. “This is a budgetary arbitration by the Minister for Equal Opportunities”insists the ministry.
College
Most of the announcements this Tuesday concern college. At the start of the 2025 school year, the new modern language programs will come into force. A year later, it will be the turn of “all the programs for other subjects from Years 6 to 3 as part of the overhaul of the common core of skills”.
THE “need groups” in French and mathematics – new name for “level groups” which had sparked an outcry – will be maintained next year in Sixth and Fifth. On this subject, the General Inspectorate of Sport, Education and Research (IGESR) and the Directorate of Evaluation, Foresight and Performance (DEPP) are carrying out an evaluation “in order to identify the most effective educational and organizational practices” of these groups.
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At the start of the 2025 school year, the needs groups will be “extended” in Fourth and Third Years for one hour per week, alternating between mathematics and French. In addition to these need groups, fourth and third grade students “will benefit from doubling the hours of homework help and doubling the success courses offered during school holidays”adds Rue de Grenelle. The aim of all these measures is to “to guide all middle school students towards success in the Brevet”we indicate.
In order to “guarantee its value as a national diploma”this patent will also be “deeply reformed” in stages. In the 2025 session, two changes are expected: first, the history-geography and moral and civic education (EMC) notes will be presented separately for “valorize EMC” ; then, a mention “Very Good with congratulations from the jury” will be created for students who obtain 18/20 or more.
In 2026, the balance between continuous assessment – which will now be based on the average of grades obtained in Third Year – and final exams will be reviewed. Continuous assessment will count for 40%, compared to 60% for final exams. Currently, each modality accounts for 50% of the final grade.
Finally, in 2027, obtaining the certificate will become compulsory to enter directly into Secondary School. Those who fail will be able to enter the first year of CAP or join a class “secondary prep”. 1,300 students are currently educated in a class of this type. The ministry, which entrusted a mission to evaluate this system to the IGESR and the DEPP, estimates that around ten classes per department should be created when the reform comes into force.
High school
While the reform of the vocational high school continues, the general and technological high school will also experience an evolution with the creation, from June 2026, of an anticipated mathematics test for all First Year students. Concretely, students who follow the common core of one and a half hours of mathematics teaching will take a test in June of their First year. Those who follow the mathematics specialty will take a test adapted to the program of this specialty at the end of Première, then a second test at the end of Terminale. The coefficient assigned to the new anticipated test will be defined “next year”.
School climate
Faced with a current school climate that he describes as “degraded, sometimes with serious violence which can harm learning”the Ministry of National Education has decided to launch the recruitment of 150 principal education advisors (CPE) and 600 education assistants (AED) from January 2025, “in order to strengthen school life teams in the most difficult middle and high schools”. “We are going to increase the positions in the CPE competition and continue to recruit contract workers, as is already happening”specifies Rue de Grenelle.
