Not all results are up to par. The Ministry of National Education made public, Monday evening, November 13, the results of the national assessments carried out in September, which covered CP, CE1, CM1, 6e and 4e on skills in French and mathematics
According to the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, the results of students in 4e “are not satisfactory and are even rather worrying”. “A little more than half of students do not read adequately and in mathematics, more than half do not master problem solving and geometry,” he explains in an interview with Parisian.
“In 4ewe see that during middle school the level stagnates, or even regresses, which means that the middle school does not manage to reduce the gaps observed at entry into 6e. The risk, if we do nothing, is that our college will break down”, Mr. Attal is alarmed. For the first time this year, students in 4e benefited from a national evaluation common to all colleges.
“The first analyzes show contrasting results depending on the education sectors. Thus, significant gaps are observed between students enrolled in priority education and those in the public sector excluding priority education”also explains the ministry in a press release. “For example in French, 14.2% of students in the public sector excluding priority education are in the lowest performance group. This is the case for 38.6% of REP + students and 27.2% of REP students” (priority education network), cites the ministry. The differences are also obvious depending on the social composition of colleges, in particular between public and private.
Results that improve in 6e
According to the minister, “we must take strong measures to raise the level of middle school in French and maths” as “level groups in French and mathematics. The size of the group is reduced for the students who are most in difficulty”. He promises “strong measures at the beginning of December for college, for entry into force from the next school year”.
Gabriel Attal, on the other hand, welcomes results which “progress”, “particularly in reading and writing” for 6 year oldse. “The 2023 results are generally stable in French compared to 2022, with an increase observed in REP +. Results are increasing in mathematics between 2022 and 2023, particularly in REP + »specifies the ministry about this class.
One of the key measures of the first five-year term was to limit CP and CE1 classes to twelve students. It began in 2017 in priority education zones, before being extended to the large nursery section. Mr. Attal was also concerned about a “form of stagnation in CP. This is a point of concern and we must therefore continue to invest in small classes”he wished.