French government modifies higher education admission system

The French government has announced plans to modify the higher education admission system Parcoursup, though it has refused to abolish the system as demanded by student and high school organizations. A "flash consultation" by the Ministry of Higher Education is examining possible changes, with three working groups held in urgency since Wednesday and continuing for "a dozen days," according to the ministry.

Student organizations boycott meetings

Student organizations and professional unions (Snes-FSU, CGT) have boycotted these meetings due to the presence of the student union Uni, which they describe as "antisemitic" and "fascist." The Unsa left the meeting, denouncing "a farce of consultation since the high school demands have been caricatured and the proposed solution plan leaves no margin."

High school students lack orientation hours

High school students are supposed to benefit from 54 hours of orientation per year, or 1 hour and 30 minutes per week, which are not actually implemented, according to a parliamentary report in February. "Main teachers have about ten hours of classroom time to do, but not necessarily scheduled in the timetable (...) This is considered voluntary," said Laetitia Aresu, general secretary of the CFDT Education.

Reforms complicate student tracking

" It is about introducing more orientation from the second year," said the president of this consultation, Gilles Roussel. The Blanquer reform in 2018 "split the classes," making it more difficult to follow students. On Parcoursup, the training programs know the high schools of the candidates. The removal of this information is a long-standing demand of high school students, who see it as a source of inequality.

Higher education officials face challenges

"The difficulty is that higher education institutions no longer have much to evaluate students," said a higher education official under anonymity. "It is not the majority, but there are programs that really look at how the high school is positioned." This possibility "should be put on the table," but "involves more complexities than some sometimes want to believe," according to Mr. Baptiste.

Calls for transparency in selection criteria

"There is a real question around continuous assessment," said Gilles Roussel, also president of the ethics and scientific committee of Parcoursup, which recommends having reference grades, such as a test bank or standardized multiple-choice questions. The consultation is studying the way to make more transparent "the criteria for ranking applications." A parliamentary report published in February recommended publishing the algorithms specific to each program or each group of programs, or indicating how the selection criteria are ranked.

Tensions over student quotas

"For the president of the University of Paris-Dauphine, Bruno Bouchard, it is 'something that could be done collectively.' 'At that point, it would be necessary to go further to publish not only the algorithm, but perhaps the score of the last admitted,' he estimates." "There are real tensions, especially in Île-de-France (and) for students from professional and technological baccalaureates," admitted Mr. Baptiste, opening the way to the creation of places, which would require a budget. The main student organizations demand the creation of 250,000 places; university presidents 2,000.

Proposals for platform improvements

"The tool can always be improved: made more ergonomic, simpler, better adapted to the real path of the user," said the minister. The hypothesis of a possible name change for the platform has also circulated as well as the modification of the calendar. The minister said he is waiting for the consultation members "concrete, prioritized proposals" and to specify whether they are achievable for 2027 or at what deadline. The Minister of National Education, Edouard Geffray, promised "first decisions" on Monday for the students mobilized for several weeks, including for Parcoursup. The training map will be online in December and registration will open in January.