Will the French baccalaureate oral exam take place?

Will they be the only ones to pass a test of bac in the days of the coronavirus? Six weeks before the deadline, hundreds of thousands of first graders do not know if French will be spoken.

Due to the epidemic, the other baccalaureate exams were replaced in early April by continuous testing. But for the oral French, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer gave himself until the end of May to decide. The oral exams are scheduled from June 26.

We talk a lot about young people from high school who drop out a bit right now, I want to send work signalshe said on Monday on RTL. It is good to prepare texts; we will see if it is in continuous or terminal control.

Students will thank me in ten years, remembering their reading of Phèdre during confinement, had he already estimated in the Sunday newspaper.

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“We do not understand why it is the only test maintained”

For the UNL high school student organization, the uncertainty inflicts additional anxiety on students, as many no longer see the meaning of preparing for an event which is unlikely to take place.

We do not understand why it is the only test maintained, regrets Sarah, a good student from Val-de-Marne, stressed, as most of his comrades, especially since this is a new oral formula, as part of the reform of the bac.

It was already a very stressful year. We had strikes, the program was delayed. I like school, I know how to work, but in a period of confinement, I had a relaxation, she says.

Maintain uncertainty, it’s a bit sadistic around the edges, says her French teacher. The preparation conditions are really unequal, I am worried about the students, she said, referring to an anxiety-provoking climate to access the meeting of texts.

For the grammar question, the students have very big gaps, they didn’t have it in the second grade, she specifies.

She cites both very engaged students who are very stressed and fragile students who bet that the bac will not take place and have dropped out.

“Most of the students did not do a white oral”

To study at home, some have a smartphone in a room with three siblings, while a young girl, whose parents are not available, has to take care of the meals and her siblings.

The ministry has reduced the number of texts to be studied. But in general, 20% of students had not studied more than five texts out of 15 and 50% not more than ten, according to a survey carried out from April 20 to 22 by the federation of parents of students Peep among its members .

Technologically, 30% of students had studied no more than four texts out of 12, 75% no more than eight.

Before confinement, students worked mainly for writing, most of them did not write white, points Viviane Youx, president of the French Association for the teaching of French (Afef), at the origin with the collective Lettres Vives of a petition for the cancellation of the oral, which gathered more than 77 000 signatures.

Teachers’ unions are also calling for the cancellation.

We are led to believe that because we have made files on fifteen texts, we will have learned something about literature. It’s absurd, says Viviane Youx. I have a feeling that this oral will not take place, but that until the end the minister wants to keep hold of something.

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