No Kid Left Behind : Macron Tries To Fix France s Education System

School children work in their classroom at the Primary School Les Ormeaux in Montereau-Fault-Yonne near Paris
Thomson Reuters




By Ingrid Melander

MONTEREAU-FAULT-YONNE, France (Reuters) - In a primary school in a run-down neighborhood south of Paris, a teacher asks his first-year class how to spell words in a text on dinosaurs.

The enthusiastic six- and seven-year-olds eagerly raise their hands and answer correctly. All 10 are brimming with confidence after a full year with about half as many pupils in their class as in most French primary schools.

"No kid is left behind," teacher Sebastien Ducoroy said after the lesson at Les Ormeaux school in the town of Montereau-Fault-Yonne, https://www.examsgeek.com/ about 70 km (43 miles) south of the French capital.

The school is one of about 4,000 in deprived areas where the size of classes has been cut under reforms intended by President Emmanuel Macron to reduce inequality in education and prepare students better for the job market.