No need to embark on clever calculations to arrive at the following observation: Elisabeth Borne will indeed be the sixth minister to take the reins of National Education since 2022. The former host of Matignon appears in first place in the protocol order of new Bayrou government, announced on December 23, with a significant portfolio extended to higher education and research. Suffice it to say that many issues await the new minister, whether the cuts to teaching positions announced for the next school year, the future of needs groups in college, the reform of teacher training or even the education program. to sexuality which has recently sparked lively debates. Another emergency that polytechnician Elisabeth Borne will have to resolve: the fate of the new mathematics test which, from 2026, should count for the baccalaureate, in the same way as the anticipated French test. Until now, high school students who simply followed 1h30 of mathematics lessons as part of the common core were exempt from the final exam. From next year this will no longer be the case since all 1st grade students will be assessed in June. At least that is what was announced by former minister Anne Genetet before the details on the modalities and contours of this ordeal were put on hold in recent weeks.
There is no doubt that Elisabeth Borne, herself a general bridge and road engineer and keen on mathematics, will pay particular attention to it. For years the education system has been searching for the recipe to raise the level in this discipline. The latest results of the Timss 2023 international survey, revealed on December 4, show that there is still a long way to go since France finds itself, once again, at the bottom of the ranking of European Union countries in mathematics and science. Will this new test help to redress the situation? “Through this decision, the former minister Anne Genetet wanted to make her mark and appear as the one who gives maths back its letters of nobility. A subject which concerns a large number of French people and in particular economic actors”, explains this senior civil servant who is accustomed to corridors of rue de Grenelle.
In reality, Anne Genetet had only repeated the measure announced by one of her predecessors Gabrial Attal as part of the launch of his “Shock of knowledge” plan on December 5, 2023. “I deeply believe that our common culture is also scientific. Also, I have decided that from the 2025-2026 school year, a new anticipated baccalaureate test at the end of the first general and technological year will be dedicated to mathematics and culture. scientific, for all of our students”, he explained. Even before, from March 2022, the idea had been mentioned in a report produced by a collective of specialists coordinated by Pierre Mathiot, the father of the high school and baccalaureate reform, and submitted to the then minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. “But, at the time, it was a question of all students following the same mathematics program included in the common core and not just non-specialists as is the case today. We invoked another imperative: that the specialty tests be organized in March and not in June, because there was no question of overloading schools a little more with this new exam,” explains Pierre Mathiot.
A puzzle for rue de Grenelle
Today these two conditions are no longer met and the announcement of this anticipated mathematics test raises many questions: to avoid a break in equality, should we consider two versions of the test, one reserved for students who only follow the common core math program, and the other dedicated to those who follow the math specialty? Will the mathematics teachers already requisitioned to correct the final year baccalaureate papers and for the grand oral exam be able to look at those for the 1st grade at the same time? What will be the coefficient allocated to this event and which other disciplines will we have to cut back on? An equation with several unknowns which acts as a puzzle for rue de Grenelle. “The modalities are being defined by the services,” the Ministry of National Education responded to L’Express a few weeks ago. While a former advisor confided: “The central administration does not view this anticipated test very favorably because of the administrative burden it will generate.”
While waiting to know the directions of the new minister, many senior officials from rue de Grenelle are showing behind the scenes their preference for a plan B: the establishment of a “certifying” test which would make it possible to measure the level of knowledge students in mathematics without it counting for the baccalaureate. A method of evaluation which would have the merit of being very easy to organize and of guaranteeing a certain fairness between all high school students. This avenue was also studied by the Scientific Council of National Education (CSEN) last summer. In a note dated July 2024, its president Stanislas Dehaene saw it as an “exceptional opportunity to change the image of mathematics”. “We are not recommending yet another painful exam but rather the implementation of an original test, designed to stimulate intelligence and creativity,” explained Franco-American Monica Neagoy, member of the CSEN, on December 5 to L ‘Express. But, for this doctor in mathematics education, the fact that this test counts for the baccalaureate could be counterproductive: “The risk is that it generates additional stress and that each student is tempted to cram for the sole aim of passing the exam “Let us not move away from our initial objective which is to finally reconcile students with mathematics.”
Baptise Larseneur, associate education expert at the Institut Montaigne, is also leaning towards a mathematics certification test modeled on the Pix software model which already makes it possible to assess students’ digital skills today. “This tool put in place by this state start-up is to be welcomed. The tests take place very fluidly and without pressure on computers, within educational establishments,” explains this specialist who advocates, like Pierre Mathiot or the CSEN, for a better “common culture in mathematics”. “Everyone should have sufficient foundations to, for example at the time of sales, know what 20% of 110 euros represents. Or even to be able to decipher the dosage of a medication. So many questions that arise in the everyday life,” he explains. According to him, this should be the whole point of this new test, the modalities of which remain to be clarified. “Even if, of course, the other absolute objective to pursue is to have 15% of the students, or even more, of a generation displaying a very, very good level because they are the engineers of tomorrow,” adds Baptiste Larseneur .
Latest pitfall highlighted by the latest Timss 2023 survey: the differences in level of mathematics between girls and boys which begin to widen from the middle of CP. The subject is particularly close to the heart of the new Minister of National Education Elisabeth Borne. In May 2024, almost four months after her departure from Matignon, she joined Sistemic, a movement launched to increase the presence of women in scientific and technological sectors. “This is an issue for gender equality but also for our competitiveness and our growth,” explained the polytechnician at the time. One more file waiting for him in his office on rue de Grenelle.
.