"Parcoursup gives the illusion of choice," says Johan Faerber

• From January 18, final year students and reorientation candidates will be able to register on the Parcoursup post-baccalaureate admission platform.

• In his essay

  Do you speak Parcoursup?

  * which appears this Friday, Johan Faerber describes the negative effects of the platform.

• He also brings his ideas to improve the device.

Since its start in 2018, Parcoursup has been the subject of criticism.

While registrations on the orientation platform in Higher Education start on January 18, Johan Faerber, a high school and university teacher, paints a gloomy portrait of it in his essay

*, which appears this Friday.

He describes the state's under-investment in higher education, the stress of high school students, a "factory of consent"...

met the essayist.

Your work is very critical of Parcoursup.

But hasn't this system remedied the injustice of the drawing of lots that existed on APB (post-baccalaureate admission) to decide between candidates wishing to integrate a sector in tension?

With APB, thousands of candidates were drawn, which was a real injustice.

If the arrival of Parcoursup was good news to remedy this, it did not eliminate the cause.

I mean the lack of places in higher education.

Moreover, with Parcoursup a generalization of the selection has become essential.

You show that Parcoursup has changed the education of high school students, concerned from the second by their orientation in higher education.

But are they all aware that their choice of specialties in 1st can close their doors on Parcoursup afterwards?

No not all.

Because there is a form of inequality when it comes to the issue of orientation: not all students have the same level of information about the courses.

Parcoursup created stress during this second year that did not exist in the previous system.

And asking a student of 15 or 16 to make career choices so early is not taking into account the evolution of a teenager, who changes interests according to his discoveries.

Are those who do not choose the maths specialty really less likely to be taken in selective training?

It depends on which ones, but it is true that Parcoursup gives the illusion of choice.

The student believes that he has access to a wide range of training courses, whereas the reality is more difficult: many courses are selective.

And math remains the royal road to access it.

With the risk for those who did not take the specialty in 1st to be left on the sidelines and to experience a feeling of frustration.

Does Parcoursup contribute to increasing the pressure on the grades from the 1st?

The platform has changed the relationship between teacher and student.

Because to be sure of obtaining a place in the sector of his choice, the latter must have the best possible file.

And since 40% of the baccalaureate mark comes from continuous assessments, the student has the impression of being under permanent surveillance.

From the start of the 1st, it's as if each homework was a final test.

He cannot fail.

This system eliminates the valuation of progression, which is nevertheless one of the foundations of pedagogy.

Moreover, not understanding a chapter of the course, it happens.

It shouldn't cause such tension to catch up.

High school has become a stress factory.

You write that Parcoursup was born from the desire to limit access to higher education.

But isn't the problem rather a lack of places in the sectors in tension than an overall lack of places in higher education?

There is a general problem of investment because in recent years, the government has not created enough places for students, nor teacher-researcher positions to support the population growth.

There is no long-term investment plan correlated with the baby boom of the 2000s, for example.

However, in other times, this has been done.

In 1990, Lionel Jospin thus created 8 universities and 24 university institutes of technology (IUT) to take into account the massification of higher education.

Parcoursup is, in this sense, a shortage management tool.

Are some baccalaureate holders worse off than others, in particular techno and professional baccalaureate holders?

These are the main victims of Parcoursup.

The pros and techno graduates who do not obtain a place in BTS or BUT are deprived.

They often end up accepting a place in a training they did not want, which increases the risk of failure.

At the end of September, almost all of the candidates generally end up having a place in higher education.

Are there many who accept registration out of spite?

Many graduates land in a sector where they are not in their place.

They register to keep their scholarship or for fear of the blank year.

The number of reorientation candidates is constantly increasing, which proves that many students were not satisfied with their first registration in higher education.

You denounce a lack of transparency concerning the Parcoursup algorithm.

What information should be given to applicants?

In a report published in 2020, the Court of Auditors underlined the opacity of certain selection criteria for entering higher education.

In particular the role that the school of origin can play.

It is unknown how a student's grades are weighted based on their high school.

The Court of Auditors also demanded to “make public the local algorithms used by the review boards.

»

Parcoursup has contributed to the development of private establishments.

Which ones in particular?

Many places have been created in private universities.

Because many graduates, fearing not to have a place in a public university, play the security card by betting on a private establishment.

In the end, what would be the urgent measures to be taken to improve Parcoursup?

The government must create places, in priority in the sectors most in tension.

It is also necessary to increase the number of positions for lecturers, professors at the university… To allow tutorials in smaller groups, in order to help everyone progress and limit failure at university.

Company

Parcoursup: All the answers to your questions about the information phase that has just started

Company

High school: Why the baccalaureate reform has increased the pressure on grades

*Do you speak Parcoursup?,

Johan Faerber, Seuil/Libelle, 4.50 euros.

• Parcoursup

• Higher Education

• Student

• BAC

• High school

• Company