French education minister wants to improve schools after Pisa shock

France's Education and Youth Minister Gabriel Attal delivers a speech during the new school year meeting of rectors at the Sorbonne university in Paris on August 24, 2023. © EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP

French Minister of Education Gabriel Attal announced a series of measures on Tuesday to address the decline in academic performance following the 2022 Pisa study, which highlighted a "historic" decrease in French students' proficiency in mathematics.

After months of consultations with educators and in response to the publication of the 2022 "Pisa" study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that showed abysmal results for France, Gabriel Attal, speaking to journalists, expressed the need to tackle the "challenge of raising the standard." i

The Pisa ("Programme for International Student Assessment") study, having measured academic performance in 81 countries, including those in the OECD, reveals a "historic" decline in French students' proficiency in mathematics and a significant drop in reading comprehension, following an overall global decrease.

French result for the 2023 Pisa test, showing a downward trend in reading, mathematics and science. © OECD, PISA 2022 Database

Overall, 2022 results are "among the lowest ever measured by Pisa in all three subjects," according to a note at the OECD website. In mathematics, the large decline observed over the most recent period is "unprecedented, and follows a period of relative stability."

However, says the study, in reading the decline began already around 2012.

The study also found that over the most recent period (2018 to 2022), the gap between the top 10 percent highest-scoring students and lowest 10 percent "did not change significantly in mathematics and reading, while it widened in science." In mathematics, the study says, performance dropped to "a similar extent" for both high- and low-achievers.

Singapore

To counter the declining trend, Attal want to introduce new final ("baccalaureate") exams, "dedicated to mathematics and scientific culture," starting from the 2025-2026 academic year in the first year of high school.

For the primary level, the minister announced the creation of "new programs," inspired by methods used in Singapore, a country leading the Pisa rankings, "anticipating, for example, the learning of fractions and decimal numbers."

🧑‍🏫🇫🇷 "Ce que nous allons mettre en place, ce doit être un véritable électrochoc", a déclaré le ministre de l'Education nationale, Gabriel #Attal, après la parution de l'étude #Pisa pic.twitter.com/Ph03bTaUQW

— FRANCE 24 Français (@France24_fr) December 5, 2023

In secondary school, "potentially several thousand" teaching positions will be created for math classes.

Rules for students who have to repeat classes will also be modified, moving the final decision to teachers rather than families.

France's political opposition and the teacher unions are unhappy. Arthur Delaporte, spokesperson for left-wing Nupes, criticized the steps as part of "a stale ideology of the conservative right."

A member of the far-right National Rally party mocked the measures saying they are "exactly those of Marine Le Pen's educational program."

Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the main union for secondary schools, regretted that Attal did not discuss the possible reduction in class sizes, noting France's classes are "the most crowded in Europe."

(With newswires)