FRANCE: Plan to halve student failure rate

Reform of the licence, France's three-year bachelor's degree equivalent, will start next September as part of an effort by Valérie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research, to halve the high failure rate of first-year university students. The new degree will be less narrowly focused, more progressive and geared to professional needs, and will provide extra help for students in difficulty.

Pécresse announced the plan last month following negotiations between university and student representatives. She said the new licence would be a genuine national diploma that would qualify graduates for employment or for further studies.

The government has allocated an extra €730 million ($1.084 billion) over five years to cover introduction of the reform.

At present, about half the annual intake of university students fail their first year with the proportion highest among those who have left school with a technology or vocational baccalauréat (see "University selection through high failure rate", University World News, 28 October 2007).

In future, the first year of the re-modelled diploma will concentrate on ensuring students acquire fundamental knowledge in areas such as general culture, the socio-economic world and basic law, and skills including foreign languages, computer literacy and research methodology. Each student will have a specific teacher to whom he or she can turn for help if needed.

The second year of 'consolidation' will progressively introduce a chosen speciality and include some professional experience through seminars, forums and workplace training. All students will have to carry out individual employment-linked projects.

During the third and last specialisation year, students will finalise their projects and the courses will include a compulsory professional placement.

The new system will require universities to increase the support they provide to students, including advice on appropriate courses for those in their final years at school, and to devote an extra five hours a week to each licence student. But no new academic posts will be created and existing staff will have to work overtime. Bonuses will be paid to those who take on project coordination roles.

To ensure success for as many students as possible, increased funding will be available for colleges which specialise in short technical and vocational courses, such as university technology institutes. They will be encouraged to enrol students with technology and vocational baccalauréat qualifications.
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