The Observation and Guidance Phase in French Secondary Education

Abstract

THE FRENCH SCHOOL SYSTEM* had been characterised, until the implementation of the 1959 reforms and the amendments made to them, by the fact that after the fifth year of primary school the children had to be channelled into three different directions. Some-more than half the age group-remained where they were in the primary school up to 14, which was then the compulsory school leaving age. The others were distributed in roughly equal numbers between the cours compldmentaire(') and the lycee.(2) In spite of the measures undertaken over some thirty years to democratise education (scholarships, abolition of fees), the three above-mentioned groups were constituted according to parental ambition or the proximity of educational establishment, rather than by considerations of aptitude. The type of career open to pupils was thus, for many, one determined in advance.