Change from the 6th grade, it is the will of Pap Ndiaye. “We are going to put in place a reform of the 6th grade, which notably involves two very important things. The first is the creation of a weekly hour of reinforcement or deepening in French or mathematics, in small groups, according to the level of the pupils, ”said the Minister of National Education on BFMTV.
Additional teaching that will be provided by school teachers, who usually intervene only in primary school.
Each student will benefit from this weekly hour, the ministry said in a statement. It is notably inspired by a “6th springboard” device tested this year in several colleges of the Amiens academy, where school teachers go to help 6th graders in difficulty.
Reinforce the level at the entrance to secondary school
Another announcement: “Homework done” in 6th grade will be made compulsory. Set up in 2017, this system, which allows students to do their homework in college, aims to lighten school work to counter inequalities at home, for those who wish.
The college “is the priority, because we have evaluations at the start of 6th grade which are problematic”, judged the minister. On entering secondary school, 27% of students do not have the expected level in French and nearly a third in mathematics, according to the results of the latest national assessments published by the ministry.
Build up skills at the end of primary school
Faced with this observation, the minister also announced measures on Wednesday for the classes of CM1 and CM2, “relating to classic things, dictation, conjugation” in particular.
Pedagogical recommendations will be sent to teachers of CM1 and CM2 and inspectors from this month of January, concerning the regular practice of dictation, the daily practice of writing or the regularity of mental calculation, specifies the press release.
In addition, from the start of the 2023 school year, CM1 students will take national assessments in French and mathematics to give teachers benchmarks.
Finally, consultation will be initiated with the entire educational community on the development of other middle school classes. It may “concern the methods of evaluation”, and “the national diploma of the patent will be revised if necessary”, indicates the press release.