The presidential candidates' program on elementary school

• Each pretender to the Elysée has school proposals in his briefcase.

• While the first round of the presidential election will take place in less than a week, on April 10,

  20 Minutes

  sifted through the programs to make a comparison.

• Reform of the school calendar, support measures, focus on discipline, reduction in class size… These are the topics most discussed by candidates.

If there is one subject on which every voter has an opinion, it is education.

The presidential candidates have clearly understood the electoral benefit they could derive from this theme.

Hence the string of measures that dot their program.

Although they do not define a very coherent educational project for whoever will be the future president, some of them attract attention.

screened them.

Downsizing, consensus

In France, primary classes are overcrowded (22 pupils on average), which does not allow individual teaching and help for pupils with difficulties.

Hence the idea shared by the candidates to reduce the workforce.

Emmanuel Macron (LREM), who launched during his five-year term the splitting of classes in priority education in large section, CP and CE1, wants to extend it from CE2 to CM2.

Other candidates want to reduce the number of students in all establishments, not just in REP, like Jean Lassalle (Resist!), who does not put forward a figure.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) wants him to limit the number of students from CE2 to CM2 to 19, Philippe Poutou (NPA) to 20 in all classes and 15 in the small section.

As for Marine Le Pen (RN), she wants to cap classes at 20,

"The school must better personalize the courses, in particular because it welcomes more and more disabled children and that the level of the pupils is very disparate, explains Guillaume Prévost, general delegate of VersLeHaut, a think tank dedicated to young people. and to education.

Reducing class sizes is a solution often advocated by education experts.

It also has the advantage of being very readable for parent voters,”

Increasing class hours in certain disciplines, a leitmotif for some

“France's results in international studies (Pisa, Timms, etc.) are disappointing, especially in maths, where they keep falling.

Hence the will of the candidates to treat the problem at the root by increasing the hours of teaching in the fundamental disciplines”, indicates Guillaume Prévost.

This is the case of Valérie Pécresse (LR) with two hours of French and one hour of maths in addition per week in primary school, of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout la France), who wants to spend the hours of French and mathematics of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekly.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon promises him an increase in French hours (from 9 to 15 hours per week), when Fabien Roussel (PCF) wants to increase school time to 27 hours per week (against 24 today).

The students also do not get enough physical exercise, according to several candidates.

Starting with Emmanuel Macron (LREM), who recommends 30 minutes of sport per day, then Anne Hidalgo, who wishes to increase "significantly the number of hours of EPS in the school course".

A focus on sport that Guillaume Prévost explains doubly: “Not only is childhood obesity on the rise, especially among children from disadvantaged backgrounds, due to sedentary lifestyles and massive exposure to screens.

But the health crisis has also had a significant impact on children's physical activity.

Art education is also honored by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who wishes to develop it "in particular by tripling the number of artist residencies in schools".

And by Anne Hidalgo, who promises "a major program of artistic education at school".

“In France, academic results are highly valued but very little skills in other areas.

While this is the case in the United States, for example.

Hence the idea, rather on the left, to open the school up more to artistic disciplines,” comments Guillaume Prévost.

Helping students in difficulty, an emergency for some

To raise the level, France being the champion of educational inequalities, Valérie Pécresse (LR) wants academic support based on a “national educational reserve” made up of retired teachers and students.

Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are betting on the reactivation of specialized support networks for students in difficulty (Rased).

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout la France) wants him to “restore a reasoned practice of repetition to give children in difficulty the chance to acquire or consolidate the basics, especially in CP”.

Proposals that underline the differences in doctrines, according to Guillaume Prévost.

“Candidates on the left favor the approach by means, while those on the right prefer the organizational approach.

The latter do not want to create jobs, but to optimize the functioning of the school or to have recourse to external aid”.

Changing the rhythms, an idea evoked with caution

Marine Le Pen (RN) wants to extend class days from one hour to one and a half hours.

But the most audacious proposal in this area comes from Yannick Jadot, who wants to better "articulate and balance fundamental knowledge during the day and devote more time to practical knowledge, nature, culture, sports, manual work “, he declares to

.

To do this, he is considering a revision of the school calendar: "I do not rule out reducing the duration of vacations, especially those in summer," he says.

“Jadot is the candidate who pleads the most for educational renewal.

He refers to multiple studies that show that the school day is too long for students and does not correspond to their biological rhythm.

But his criticism of the school calendar remains measured, because he knows that the subject is divisive.

And he remembers the failure of Vincent Peillon's reform of school timetables, ”analyzes Guillaume Prévost.

Insisting on discipline, a fad for some

Each campaign shows measures in this area.

Several candidates therefore want the return of the Ciotti law (2010), which provided for the suspension of family allowances to parents of absentee or disruptive students.

This is the case of Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Dupond-Aignan, Valérie Pécresse and Eric Zemmour.

And some go even further, such as Eric Zemmour with his reintegration boarding schools for excluded students, Valérie Pécresse who wishes to send them "to school reintegration structures, with reinforced supervision", and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in boarding schools. specialized and with reinforced security measures.

Old moon too, the return of the uniform advocated by Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.

“We see these ideas re-flowering, which refer to a dad-style school because they speak to everyone.

But most of these measures are simplistic and unrealistic.

They do not meet the need to support families in managing school difficulties.

They are right-wing markers whose purpose is to send signals to a well-identified electorate.

I think these are more showcase measures than real proposals likely to be put in place after the election, ”said Guillaume Prévost.

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