Will there be a traffic jam at the entrance to universities and schools at the start of the school year? The question arises again this year, even if we do not yet know the exact number of baccalaureate holders that will have to be integrated. The final results of the baccalaureate are in fact not yet known, since we have to wait to see what the catch-up oral exams will give. For now, we only know that the success rate for the bac in the first round is 90.5%. And that the high school students who passed the baccalaureate this year were slightly less numerous than in 2020, where the establishments had to absorb 35,000 additional new baccalaureate graduates in the first year. “So we don’t expect a higher wave than last year. Nevertheless, we must continue to give institutions the means to welcome all these students, ”Frederique Vidal said on Friday.
The Ministry of Higher Education has thus decided to create 34,000 more places at the start of the school year, but which will not all be intended for new students. Frédérique Vidal gave some details on their breakdown: “There will be. 6,000 additional places in bachelor’s degree over the first three years, 5,000 in BTS, between 3,000 and 4,000 in master’s, 2,500 in IFSI (Nursing training institutes), a few thousand in FCIL (additional local initiative training)… ”In addition , the minister confirmed the recruitment of “1,000 jobs in higher education establishments”.
“It will be necessary to ensure that the promised places materialize well”
These promises, however, leave student organizations unsatisfied. They first point to the vagueness concerning the creation of places: “The figures given by the ministry only indicate a breakdown for half of the places announced. But where are the others going to go? », Asks Maryam Pougetoux, vice-president of UNEF. Another fear: that these new places do not necessarily correspond to the training courses most requested by students: “Of the 6,000 places in license, we do not know how many will concern the sectors in tension. It is imperative to favor courses such as Staps, psychology and law, ”insists Yann Carcel, vice-president in charge of academic affairs at Fage. The 5,000 more places in BTS also seem insufficient: “The BTS recorded 30% of the wishes on Parcoursup this year. So we can easily imagine that the planned creations will not be enough. And concerning the GOALS, which represented 11% of the wishes this year, there was no announcement, ”Maryam Pougetoux is surprised.
Student organizations also fear that the ministry has forgotten some young people: “In its calculation of students who want to enroll in an establishment at the start of the school year, the ministry omits those who did not have their wish on Parcoursup the year last, went off the radar for a year, but will try their luck again this year, ”says Maryam Pougetoux. And the fear that there is a gap between speeches and actions is very real: “It will be necessary to ensure that the promised places materialize well in the establishments and that the management positions created concern the universities where the conditions studies are the least good, as in Nîmes, Saint-Etienne, Rennes 2, Lyon 3… ”, warns Yann Carcel.
“It is necessary to develop a national plan to fight against dropping out”
Universities will have to tackle another challenge at the start of the school year: to offer sufficient support mechanisms to new students. Necessarily penalized by the half-gauge courses in terminal, they will undoubtedly have methodological problems. The ministry also intends to recruit 20,000 tutors among the students already in course, to help the new students to take their marks: “The objective is that one offers them contracts to 10 hours per week, so that that does not prevent them from succeeding. their studies, ”said the minister.
“There are several scattered measures to support students, but it is necessary to develop a national plan to fight against dropping out”, insists Maryam Pougetoux. “Universities should develop personalized support programs, as well as partnerships with associations such as Chemins d’avenir and Article 1, which offer mentoring programs,” adds Yann Carcel. So many devices that require even more resources.