New Director General Takes Helm at National Education Amidst Challenges
Édouard Geffray has been appointed Director General of School Education (Dgesco), the number two position within the Ministry of National Education.Geffray brings a diverse background to the role, having previously worked for the Council of State and served as Secretary General of the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (Cnil). He also held political positions as chief of staff to François Bayrou in 2017 and later as HR director for the Ministry of National Education. Most recently,he submitted a report focused on modernizing the “My class at the cinema” program.
Geffray’s arrival coincides with a period of meaningful difficulty for the French education system. The start of the school year was marked by tragedy with the suicide of Caroline Grandjean, a school principal in Cantal, following prolonged lesbophobic harassment. This event added to existing concerns stemming from recent incidents of school violence, including a knife attack on a teacher in Benfeld (Bas-Rhin) by a 14-year-old student.
Beyond these immediate crises, the Ministry faces ongoing structural issues. A severe teacher recruitment crisis has persisted for three years, characterized by low competition participation rates, unfilled positions, and teachers leaving the profession early.A reform aimed at addressing this, shifting teacher training to the third year of a bachelor’s degree followed by a two-year, paid master’s program with civil servant status, is scheduled to take effect in 2026.
Several other key reforms remain in progress.Former Minister Elisabeth Borne announced changes to the baccalauréat exam, limiting continuous assessment to specifically designated “certificative” evaluations like common homework and practice exams. Schools are currently working to determine which grades will be included in the final assessment before the All Saints’ day holiday.
Implementation of existing policies is also proving challenging. The “portable pause” initiative,intended to reduce screen time in middle schools,has seen limited uptake,with only 9% of schools implementing it and 68% reporting no plans to do so,according to a survey by the SNPDEN-Unsa union.
Progress is also needed in the implementation of education for emotional, relational and sexual life (Evars), twenty years after it was mandated by law. While a framework is now in place, schools lack dedicated time in the curriculum and resources for effective implementation.
the Ministry is addressing the fallout from the Bétharram affair, which revealed instances of sexual violence in private schools under contract.A plan, “Let’s break the silence, let’s act together,” including questionnaires for boarding students and those on school trips, has been launched, with a goal of inspecting 40% of contracted private establishments by 2027.
