Picture By Michael Surran
We French
believe in education. I don't like to make such sweeping statements but today I
will make an exception. The French system is incredibly selective and...free,
except if you want to graduate from a business school or opt for a private
education (which remains the exception rather then the rule). The only problem
is that the French education is, well...French, and doesn't really prepare you
for the world outside of France. Oh, and you had better be good at maths too.
That
said, I have to admit that I was disappointed when my daughter wasn't accepted
at the French Lycée in
London. I was even more disappointed when I found out that other kids had got
in -the selection process was quite opaque. Some things never change.
She
started to go to a British school and has never looked back ever since. That
said, I am always worried because it is a system that I don't know. To make
matters even worse, you are always told that 'everything is fine'. Always. Even
when everything is definitively not fine.
This
means that you have to be smart. I soon understood that I needed to gather as
much information as possible. It is not easy as it sounds, because people don't
share their tips (or their tutor. His or her name is a closely guarded secret).
My motto is : prepare, prepare, prepare. It can be for my daughters' exams, for
my citizenship test for professional certifications.
It is all
about finding old papers, exam questions and tips. Google is my best friends.
So are the Bond papers for my daughters. I once attended a school presentation
when I was told that the selection was based on 'talent and potential'. In
essence, they told us that there was absolutely no need to prepare.There is a
saying in France 'Talent without work is just a bad habit'. The thing is, you
have to pretend that you are managing effortlessly over here. In fact, most
kids I know are heavily tutored and all the adults around me trying to get a
certification are working like mad to get it. Go figure. Why the big fat lie?
That's what I read too in a Times article, I think it was.
ReplyDeleteI'm crap at maths so I don't understand the French obsession with it because I'm by no means stupid. That's the way they do things here though, so my boys just have to put up with it. They are not naturally talented at maths either.
It must be quite hard for them to put up with such pressure. I am pleased that my daughters are in the British system, because they are getting more exposure to the 'outside' world. one is even learning to speak Mandarin.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to understand why good education is being so much tougher to access. Indians are also obsessed with brilliant math skills.
ReplyDeleteJust like you, I don't understand why good education is becoming so hard. And so expensive sometimes. french are also obsessed with maths, and that's why I put my daughters in the British system. I find it more balanced.
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