“Efforts for Social Diversity in Private Schools: A Plan Unveiled by France’s Minister of Education”

The Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye was to present this Thursday, May 11 a plan to involve private establishments under contract in an effort of social diversity. In Brittany, enrollment in private schools is 40% of students. The indices of diversity in these places show inequalities, however less significant compared to those present on the national territory.

Traditionally in Brittany, private education is well established. About 40% of students are educated in these types of structures in the Academy of Rennes, one of the highest rates at the national level. In the department of Morbihan in 2022, there are even more students to have returned to the private sector (50.4%) than to the public.

Despite a lower rate of inequality than in other regions, social diversity is not entirely appropriate in private establishments in Brittany. National Education has made public, since 2022, a social position index (IPS) for students. This statistical, socio-economic and cultural indicator takes into account “the profile of the two parents of the pupils”. The higher the indicator, the more the child lives in a privileged environment.

Among the ten Breton colleges with the highest IPS average of the Academy, 7 are private establishments. On the other side of the barometer, the ten establishments with the weakest indicator are all public colleges.

The private college of the Assumption in Rennes has the highest rate of IPS (138.2) for its 924 students. “It’s the choice of families to go to this or that establishment, recalls Philippe Mercier, director of the structure near the city center. Access to private and public schools is free.“For him, the cost of schooling can be a barrier for some families and lead them to enroll in public school. He recalls that aid exists to help families who need it.

The Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye was to announce this Thursday, May 11, measures for private establishments to make an effort for more social diversity. “What bothers me is the image that we will convey with two types of establishment, one for the poor and one for the rich.” laments Philippe Mercier.

In Vannes, his colleague head of school at the Notre Dame Le Menimur school group shares this observation. “We do not find ourselves in the portrait drawn at the national level of an elitist private establishment. This is not the case with us”sweep Manuel Krzyzosiak. Its college is in the region’s average IPS for private establishments.

For him, as for his colleague from Rennes, the effort required should come from assistance from local authorities, particularly in terms of catering. Each meal for families costs €6 in the private sector compared to €2 in the public. “From the moment that communities decide to help families to access catering, there is no reason why children in private education should not benefit from this aid”, explains Philippe Mercier. According to him, a measure of this type could allow some families to enroll their children in private establishments and thus improve social diversity.

In Brittany, the differences in terms of social mix in the school environment diminish when the private colleges are located outside the large cities.

For high schools, the differences are less significant. A distinction at the level of the IPS should be noted on the type of high school attended and the nature of the studies.

In 2022, 595,289 students entered an establishment of the Académie de Rennes.