Level groups in middle school: Nicole Belloubet introduces “flexibility” into the set-up

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP 1:22 p.m., March 7, 2024

The Minister of Education, Nicole Belloubet, declared Thursday that she was going to "introduce a certain flexibility" in the establishment of level groups in middle school in French and mathematics, by preserving moments "in the whole class", while this reform aroused much opposition.

“My concern is to do everything to make this commitment possible and make it applicable in the field. I ask teachers to work with their students in groups throughout the school year” in French and mathematics, a measure planned from the next school year in 6th and 5th grade, she says in an interview with Le

, without ever mentioning the expression “level groups”.

The head of the establishment will have control

But "we are going to introduce a certain flexibility for middle school principals. Thus, it will be up to the head of the establishment to see, at what times during the year, it is necessary to bring the students together as a whole class, in order to re-examine the composition of the groups ", she continues, without further details.

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In December, Gabriel Attal, then Minister of National Education, announced the creation of level groups at the start of the 2024 school year in 6th and 5th grade for French and mathematics, and in September 2025 in 4th and 3rd grade, to help raise the level of students.

But the creation of these groups aroused the anger of the teaching unions, pointing out a risk of “sorting” of students and a lack of resources to set them up.

“Trust does not exclude responsibilities”

“It is not up to me, from the ministry, to dictate the schedule in each establishment,” underlines Nicole Belloubet, who in fact softens Gabriel Attal's initial speech, while refusing to change it.

“I believe in the autonomy of establishments, and I trust the educational teams,” she says again.

But, she tempers, “trust does not exclude responsibilities. There will be work with the inspection bodies to see if what has been imagined by the teams responds well to the order of the constitution of groups , it doesn't matter what name we give them, as long as they help students progress.