A observing France's results in international studies on the level of students, a hasty observer would be tempted to conclude that young French people do not have the knack for mathematics. The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss), published in December 2024, paints the portrait of a mediocre student, stagnating at a worrying score compared to other rich countries. France remains last in the European Union in CM1 and penultimate in 4e. It is penultimate among OECD countries in both levels.
Could there be a “French spirit” resistant to this discipline? The hypothesis does not hold, nor does the terrible prejudice according to which boys are predisposed to mathematics, and girls are not. Perhaps we should also stop believing that “talent” is necessary to succeed in mathematics, an idea that begins to intimidate girls as early as first grade. “There is no predisposition or curse to be good or bad at math, argues Claire Piolti-Lamorthe, president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers in Public Education. To learn, you have to start by making mistakes. »
The explanation for poor French performance is rather to be sought in the dysfunctions of the school system: the poorest students do rather poorly, the most advantaged rather better, the gap between the best and the worst is higher than in other countries. other countries. These inequalities generate poor results which are particularly visible in mathematics, the key discipline which selects towards the best higher education courses. We would undoubtedly find these poor performances in history or chemistry if the comparison focused on these disciplines.
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The system's inability to reduce social gaps is partly due to the heterogeneity of students, incomparable with that of more successful European countries. This heterogeneity is difficult to manage due to class sizes, which are higher than the OECD average. Teachers also say they are less well trained than their European counterparts in managing disparities in level.
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