Obtaining the certificate in third grade will ultimately not be compulsory to progress to second grade, contrary to what the previous government announced for 2027, the Ministry of Education announced on Friday January 17 during a press briefing. “The certificate will not be made compulsory for access to the second class,” announced the ministry.
Minister Elisabeth Borne “returned” to this measure, which was announced in November by her predecessor Anne Genetet for June 2027, we added during this press briefing on the distribution by academy of positions in public education at the start of the 2025 school year.
“In other words, Elisabeth Borne wants to trust the teachers and the class councils. When a class council at the end of third grade considers that a student is likely to move up to second grade, that student moves to second grade. And the passing the patent remains an obligation, but obtaining the patent is not,” it was clarified.
“Social sorting”
Anne Genetet announced in November that she wanted to continue the measures of the “shock of knowledge” launched by Gabriel Attal in December 2023 to “restore standards to school”, and in particular wanted to make the certificate compulsory for entry into second year from the June 2027 session. This decision was strongly criticized by the teaching unions, who see it as a means of “social sorting”.
The experiment with “prep-secondary” classes – tailor-made classes for students who have not had their certificate –, set up this year, will however be maintained for the 2025-2026 school year. let us evaluate the effects,” it was indicated.
Elisabeth Borne has also “decided to put in place new support systems which are intended to support students whose class councils have decided to move to second grade and who have not necessarily passed the certificate”, she said. it was clarified. These devices are “currently under study” and the ministry is working on “several hypotheses”.