Parents to be Given Greater School Choice

The government has announced that it is to grant parents greater freedom in school choice. Some minor changes to the current system are to be introduced from September 2007, before a more comprehensive nationwide system is introduced in 2008. In France, as is generally the case elsewhere, the system of carte scolaire means that schoolchildren are required to attend the school within their catchment area, with these areas often tightly drawn. The government argues that this causes geographic and social segregation in schools, with bright children from deprived areas often obliged to attend a poor performing local school. Conversely, by default, those in richer areas have been able to self-select. The government hopes that by widening choice for parents, there will be greater diversity in the composition of children who attend schools. Critics argue that it is going to condemn inner city schools to a slow death, as brighter children will be drawn away to attend more popular and successful schools. In practice, the whole issue of school choice is one that concerns mainly those who live in the cities, as distances between schools within the countryside places a real constraint on choice. Moreover, even within urban areas, many parents are already able to find a way around the restrictions of the carte scolaire, through the various loopholes in the current rules. Thus, there are few restrictions on choice of school within a catchment area, and at secondary school children can attend outside of the area by choosing to study a subject not taught at their local school, e.g. music. There are also health, employment, and family grounds on which it is possible to gain greater choice of school, even leaving aside the sham addresses set up by some parents to get their child into a popular school! Parents can also choose to send their child to a private school, where there are no geographic restrictions. It is, as yet, unclear from the government proposals, whether there will be new obligations on private schools to ensure a social mix. Whilst fees are payable for attending a private school, as a general rule, they are very modest, and well within the capacity of most households. Almost all are hugely oversubscribed each year. You can read more about school education in France by visiting our Guide to School Education.