Level groups at school: what will happen in September ?

While the level groups will come into effect à The next school year, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education sometimes present different versions of how the system works.

The level groups will arrive at the college from the start of the 2024 school year. a few months after their implementation, the Minister of Education Nicole Belloubet and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, & the origin of the measure, does not seem to agree on the subject. Since Wednesday March 13, the two members of the government have met are relayed in the press to provide details on the operation, but sometimes had different definitions, these future level groups which will be established in the sixth and fifth grade classes for French and mathematics lessons.

However, unity is required to defend these level groups which are very poorly received by teachers who They state and fear a risk of stigmatization of students. Level groups are also part of the list of motivations that push the entire teaching staff to continue their careers. go on strike and go on strike; demonstrate on March 19.

The Prime Minister's reform

For Gabriel Attal, the level groups will be "the rule" over "at least three quarters of the year" and the entire class will become "the'exception" as indicated; in an interview à AFP, March 13: "I think that for at least three-quarters of the year, students need to follow their teaching in French and mathematics in level groups. So the rule is the group, and the exception, very regulated, is the class. These groups will apply to French and mathematics. Gabriel Attal then added; that there will be “three groups depending on the level of difficulty” of students, with one objective: that we can take stock of the level of the students. 

Despite the protests made by teachers, the Prime Minister refused to accept them. to hear the concerns at hand about the stigmatization of students but acknowledged that "the main worry of many parents" is to know if the organization of the school will allow their children to progress. Faced with the problem of lack of resources and teachers within National Education, highlighted by teachers, Gabriel Attal had to clear &agrav; l'AFP : "If we realize here or there, in such and such an academy, in such and such an establishment, that additional positions are necessary, we will continue to do so. add means". 

The pedagogy of the Minister of Education

Nicole Belloubet also broughté details on the future reform this Friday, March 15 at the microphone of France Info. the main concern of the teaching staff which is to create a form of discrimination of students. She declared ; that groups "must be able to evolve over the course of the year" and affirmed "refuse social sorting" among the students. In detail, the minister explained: that "to evolve, it is necessary, at times, that [the students]  find themselves in the whole class . Ça gives flexibility à each establishment, on the ground. This is what is going to happen and it seems to me to be in line with what has been said. what the Prime Minister wanted. 

In accordance with the initial project, the Minister of Education confirmed that the level groups will not be fixed throughout the year: "We hope that these groups can be mixed because we do not want a student who, for example, is in the weakest group to necessarily stay there until the end of the year. the end of the year. This &agrav; to which she addedé that the whole class moments will encourage "this mixing." Nicole Belloubet also specifiedé that "each head of the establishment will implement [this 'brewing'] according to reality of its éestablishment". The minister indicated that the "clear framework" of the reform will be detailed in the official texts expected this Saturday March 16 and should present the definitive version of what the level groups will be.

The device thoughté by Gabriel Attal in any case leaves the responsibility to teachers; to constitute these groups, as reminded by France Info. The groups will be constituted according to the different chapters covered in the French programs and of mathematics. They should therefore be changed again. each chapter with a week or two of beats. For example, students in the medium level group in geometry could find themselves in the high level group in geometry. for fractions the week according to their level on the different notions. For all other subjects in the program, lessons should be taken as a whole class. These groups could also be applied to fourth grade classes. me and third à from the start of the school year in September 2025.