- The coronavirus epidemic has led the government to cancel the baccalaureate exams, with an exam that will be based this year solely on continuous testing.
- This makes some high school students and their parents dread a bac that will not have the same value as the others.
- But according to Bruno Poucet, education historian and professor of educational sciences at the University of Picardy Jules Verne, this will not be the case.
A first for an "exceptional situation": the baccalaureate will be evaluated this year in continuous monitoring due to the epidemic of coronavirus, when no one knows when a resumption of classes will take place. This is the decision announced this Friday, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of Education.
This leaves some high school students and their families afraid of a devalued bac. 20 Minutes interviewed Bruno Poucet, education historian and professor of education sciences at the University of Picardie Jules Verne, to assess this risk.
At what other moments in the history of our country, was the baccalaureate urgently reworked, as is the case this year?
This was the case in May 1940, when the tests had been reorganized because of the war. But at the time, the number of candidates was reduced, so it had been easier to do so. In 1968, the written tests were canceled and replaced by oral examinations. But here again, the number of candidates concerned was more limited. Today's situation is unprecedented since it concerns more than 700,000 candidates and it is impossible to know when they will be able to travel.
Can we expect higher success rates for this session?
What is certain is that the success rate will not be lower. It will be equal to or higher than that of 2019. It is a safe bet that the juries will be benevolent.
Will the 2020 baccalaureate have less value than that obtained in previous years?
In popular imagination, the bac of 1968 was "offered" to candidates, because the success rate on the exam went from 60% for the previous year to 80%. But a study of the 1968 graduate cohort shows that the laureates had no trouble getting hired afterwards and held many managerial positions. So the 1968 bac had not been devalued.
The 2020 bin will also not be a discount bin, because the continuous monitoring takes into account the efforts made throughout the year. And the 2020 winners will not be penalized. First of all because it has not been a selective examination for a long time. And that admission to higher education depends on grades 1 and those obtained in the first two terms of Terminale.
Are candidates from elitist high schools guaranteed to have their grades upgraded or should they be worried?
As their school book with teachers' assessments will be scrutinized, these students will not be penalized. The members of the juries will be responsible and will take into account the candidate's school of origin. And this situation will reveal the overly harsh ways of correcting and I hope that some teachers will reflect on their practices in this area.
But wouldn't the weeks or even the months of lessons that high school students have not had the risk of handicapping them?
Or, the knowledge acquired from March will not be quite the same as if they had taken courses. But most high school teachers have done a tremendous job in ensuring pedagogical continuity during confinement. And this period of class at home is like a magnifying mirror of the dysfunctions that already existed before. The lycées which did not work much during this period were already those which did not follow their courses well before. And one might think that when the deconfinement takes place, many students will be motivated when they return to their establishments. Because they will have been able to measure the investment of their teachers and how important their role is.
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Coronavirus: Continuous monitoring, harmonization of notes ... How will bac 2020 take place?
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- Containment
- Coronavirus
- High school student
- Education
- Society
- BAC
- Jean-Michel Blanquer
- Exam