Page 9 - MIN ON - MAY 20,2015

WORLD NEWS A11
Wednesday 20 May 2015

Unequal schools in France prompt strike, soul-searching

Teachers and education employees march during a demonstration to protest government plans ing criticism from both left- and slave trades.” A seem-
to reform the education system, in Paris, France, Tuesday, May 19, 2015. France is trying to shake leaning teachers’ unions ingly more positive take on
up a top-down system of teaching, end an elite bilingual program and give schools more say in and French conservatives. the period, titled “Society
how students spend their time, saying entrenched inequality in education threatens the country’s It’s a debate that is similar and culture in the Enlight-
future. to discussions about under- enment,” is an elective.
performing students in the Latin and Greek will be de-
(AP Photo/Francois Mori) United States. emphasized — currently 20
French teachers’ unions, percent of middle school-
LORI HINNANT ture. start in 2016 are relatively which routinely protest ers learn those ancient lan-
Associated Press The plan from the Socialist- modest: scaling back Latin any changes, complain guages — but still optional.
PARIS (AP) — France is try- led government came af- and Greek, rescheduling the reforms are superficial The government went out
ing to shake up a top-down ter an international study and expanding foreign lan- and were pushed through of its way to reassure wor-
system of teaching, end an ranked France among guage teaching, and let- without consultation. Con- ried German officials that
elite bilingual program and the developed world’s ting schools — rather than servatives fear an attack German and English will
give schools more say in most unequal school sys- the central government — on France’s intellectual still be the first foreign lan-
how students spend their tems, with students’ perfor- decide how to spend 20 tradition.The government guages taught.
time, saying entrenched mance highly dependent percent of students’ time. wants to add multi-disci- The number of hours in
inequality in education upon their socio-economic But the plan prompted a plinary classes and cut a class, 26 per week, will not
threatens the country’s fu- status. The changes set to strike on Tuesday, draw- well-respected bilingual change.
program that enrolls about For Peter Gumbel, a British
15 percent of top students journalist who lives in Paris
in favor of expanding for- and is about to publish a
eign language classes to a second book about French
broader range of younger schooling, the plan is a tim-
children. Students will start id approach to an urgent
learning their first foreign problem.
language — usually English “They can’t be radical be-
— in the equivalent of first cause they know if they try
grade and their second for- anything radical the whole
eign language around age country would erupt. As it
12. But French conserva- is, they’re trying something
tives have fixed on a new that is not radical and the
required theme for middle country is not quite erupting
school history classes, titled but people are going out
“A world dominated by in the streets and there’s a
Europe: Colonial empires, lot of indignation,” Gumbel
commercial exchanges said.q