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1. Educational support

2. Social cohesion and equal opportunities

Educational support

Inclusive education

Enabling School to be fully inclusive is a strong ambition of the Government which has made the schooling of pupils with disabilities a priority of the five-year term. The law no. 2019-791 for a “school of trust” devotes its chapter IV to this subject. The aim is, within the framework of a public service of inclusive school, to ensure a quality schooling for all pupils from nursery school to upper secondary school and the consideration of their particular educational needs. 

Inclusion actions are based on the back-to-school 2019 circular - Inclusive School (BO of 5 June 2019) the purpose of which is to specify the actions and means to be implemented from the 2019 school year to introduce in each academy and in each department a public service of the Inclusive School:

1. “ Establishing an Inclusive School departmental service
2. Organising local inclusive support centres
3. Better receiving parents and better schooling pupils
4. Recognising the work of teachers, supporting them and deploying an accessible training offer
5. Strengthening the affiliation of Pupils with disabilities with the educational community
6. Simplifying procedures for all
7. Better monitoring the inclusive paths and assessing the quality of actions”.

Pupils with disabilities can stay on a full-time or part-time basis in a medico-welfare establishment or be schooled in Local Units for School Inclusion (Unités localisées pour l’inclusion scolaire, ULIS) which enable the enrolment in primary and secondary schools of a group of pupils with cognitive or mental function disorders (specific language, learning, motor function, hearing and eyesight disorders, multiple disabilities or disabling illnesses).

A guide for the schooling of children and adolescents with disabilities, designed to inform the families, was developed in 2018 in partnership with the MAIF (Mutual benefit organisation).

Measures for pupils with severe difficulties

Organising teaching in Segpa

At lower secondary school, adapted general education and vocational training sections (Segpa) welcome pupils with severe and persistent educational difficulties.

The specific organisation of the schooling of lower secondary school children benefiting from the adapted general education and vocational training section (Segpa) is characterised by teaching within the Segpa, learning sequences with the pupils of other classes and the implementation of common projects between the Segpa classes and lower secondary school classes.

The Segpa involves comprehensive care in the context of adapted education, based on an analysis of the pupils’ potential and difficulties. “Adapting the teaching provided to pupils implies arrangements for learning situations, materials and paces, and the adjustment of pedagogical and didactic approaches”.

Enrolling newly arrived allophone pupils and children from non-sedentary families at school

The implementation of Inclusive School for allophone pupils recently arrived in France (élèves allophones nouvellement arrivés, EANA) and children from non-sedentary families (enfants issus de familles itinérantes et de voyageurs, EFIV) is an important issue for the national education which has set up programmes for the inclusion of these more vulnerable pupils.

These programmes are based on principles shared by all the stakeholders in education:

• “The professional posture and ethics necessary for taking into account the particular needs of the pupil;
• The implementation of a collective project within the school or the establishment, mobilising the whole school community and local partners;
• The development of a personalised path, allowing the pupil to undergo school education in his ordinary class, with his peers, by benefiting from the pedagogical support he needs;
• The renewal of pedagogical practices, to better understand learning processes, adapt the teaching contents, implement a differentiated and positive assessment;
• The attention paid to dialogue with the parents to facilitate the follow-up of their child’s schooling;
• Long-term follow-up of the pupils to foster learning continuity”.

Academic centres for the education of newly arrived allophone children (centres académiques pour la scolarisation des enfants allophones nouvellement arrivés, CASNAV)

Academic centres for the education of newly arrived allophone children and children from non-sedentary families are responsible for providing their advice and pedagogical expertise to the various stakeholders concerned by the schooling of these pupils. They organise and facilitate training actions concerning these audiences and also support educational teams in schools and educational establishments.

The missions of the CASNAV are as follows:

• “An educational expertise mission which contributes to the management, organisation and monitoring of academic systems, and to the statistical monitoring of EANA, in conjunction with the Directorate of Evaluation, Forecasting and Performance Monitoring (DEPP);
• A body for cooperation and mediation between the academic and departmental services, the municipalities, social services, associations and families;
• A resource and training centre for the staff, schools and establishments through initial and continuing education activities, the coordination of pedagogical working groups, the publication and dissemination of teaching materials”.

Indeed, various specific resources such as audio and audiovisual resources and bilingual welcome booklets, are produced to welcome allophone pupils.

For further information, see Eurydice 12 Educational Support and Guidance

The chapter 12 of Eurydice 12 Educational Support and Guidance describes the various social inclusion measures implemented by stakeholders in education.

Providing financial aid

Depending on what resources they have available, schoolchildren and students can benefit from financial aid, school and university grants in particular. Grants are awarded for an academic year. There are three levels, depending on the resources of the person or people taking responsibility for pupils in question, and the number of children involved.

In addition, municipalities, départements and regions may also award grants to schoolchildren and students on their territory. Such financial assistance depends on the policies implemented by local authorities: they therefore vary from one municipality to the next and from one region to another.

In the event of financial problems, schoolchildren and students can benefit from exceptional financial aid financed by their institution’s social fund (lower secondary, upper secondary or student social funds)

For further information see Youth Wiki 4.6 Access to quality services

Facilitating the schooling of disabled children

Schooling for disabled children has been a legal principle since the Law of 11 February 2005. A range of measures facilitate their inclusive education, financial aids among them:  the Disabled Child Education Allowance (AAEH – Allocation d'éducation de l’enfant handicapé), the Disability Compensation Benefit (PCH – Prestation de compensation du handicap), the Disability Card (Carte d'invalidité) and provision of specialised transport. In addition to such assistance, pupils can stay fulltime or part-time in a medicosocial institution or be schooled at Local Units for Educational Inclusion (ULISs - Unités localisées pour l'inclusion scolaire), which provide primary and secondary education for groups of children with cognitive or mental disorders (specific language and learning disorders, motor function, auditory or visual disorders, multiple disabilities or disabling illnesses).

For further information, see Eurydice 12 Educational Support and Guidance

Schooling allophone children

Schools’ intake obligations apply as much to allophone children newly arrived in France as they do to other pupils. Special resources such as bilingual welcome booklets are provided and educational inclusion projects created to help cope with allophone pupils.

For further information refer to Eurydice 12 Educational Support and Guidance

Social cohesion and equal opportunities

Several information campaigns on civic rights and raising awareness of democratic values are organised at secondary schools and higher education institutions on a yearly basis, in partnership with human rights defence associations. They aim to foster and reinforce tolerance and successful coexistence. For further information see 5.8. Raising awareness among young people.

See also:

• Eurydice report, Promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education.
• Eurydice report Citizenship Education in Europe.