From September 2024, high school students will be able to use MIA Seconde, software based on artificial intelligence. A measure announced by Gabriel Attal to respond to a drop in the average level of students in mathematics.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has just published its major Pisa survey, this Tuesday, December 5, 2023. And its results are not very flattering for France. As a reminder, the institution analyzes the average performance of students in reading comprehension, science and mathematics every three years. Unfortunately, the OECD observed in 2022 a “unprecedented drop in performance” among the States, and more particularly in France. Indeed, the French average in mathematics has fallen by 21 points and reading comprehension by 19 points compared to 2018. “The 2022 results are among the lowest ever measured”regretted the organization, specifying that “the drop in the level [était] general and [qu’elle n’affectait] not just France”. To try to turn things around, the government of Élisabeth Borne took a drastic decision.
Artificial intelligence: a new tool to support high school students
This Tuesday, December 5, shortly after the publication of the Pisa survey, Gabriel Attal sent a letter to teachers in order to present a series of “strong measures”. The objective of the Minister of National Education and Youth is clear: he wants to improve the performance of the French education system. To do this, the politician is banking on new technologies, and more precisely on artificial intelligence (AI).
From the start of the 2024 school year, second-year students will be able to count on a tool using AI, called “MIA Second” (adaptive interactive modules), to help them in two subjects: French and mathematics. “All students entering high school will now be accompanied, at home, by an AI tool for remediation or improvement in French and mathematics”, explained Gabriel Attal in a press release. In his message, the minister indicates that it is a “sovereign software, built with researchers and teachers, owned by the Ministry of National Education and Youth”.
Before its national implementation, the tool will be tested with 200,000 second grade students. “in the coming months”. “France will thus be the first country in the world to generalize a tool for raising standards based on artificial intelligence to an entire age group”concluded Gabriel Attal.
I owe this clash of knowledge and this discourse of truth to the French.
I owe it to all our fellow citizens who trust the School for the success of their children.
I owe it to all those who want pedagogy to overturn sociology and defy the odds. pic.twitter.com/GxrobP5g4X
— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) December 5, 2023
If the overall level of students has dropped drastically, this may be due to different factors. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the health crisis weighed very heavily. Indeed, the countries evaluated have gone through a long period of epidemic, but some more difficult than others. Distance learning courses would thus have contributed to a decline in student attention and engagement. The proof ? French students are among the high school students who feel the least supported by their teachers: only 62% of them indicated that the teacher provided additional help to students who need it. For comparison, this is 8 points lower than the general average of other countries and 22 points lower than Japan.