“The reform of the university degree will worsen the social classification mechanisms that are already in operation”

myIn 2023, Gabriel Attal, then Minister of National Education, announced, among other provisions of the “clash of knowledge”, that he wanted to condition access to class 2.^of to the fact of validating the university degree. The measure was in force during the ministry of Nicole Belloubet. It has just been acquired by her successor, Anne Genetet, who intends to relaunch these projects.

In the current state of organization of the faculty, it is not necessary to obtain the national patent diploma (DNB) to continue studies, even if a student who does not validate it can ask to repeat his 3^my. The DNB is currently based on the equal importance between continuous control of class 3^my and in a number of national written tests taken at the end of the school year.

In 2024, 85.6% of students passed it and around 120,000 of them did not pass it. The DNB is supposed to validate the “common core” of knowledge and skills that students should have achieved by the end of high school. This objective is the subject of debate, in particular because the organization of the “classical” tests corresponds only imperfectly to the objectives set by the base.

The proposal presented by Anne Genetet consists, on the one hand, of giving more importance from 2025 to the final tests (at least 60% of the total points) and to the control of the knowledge acquired in relation to the competencies and to eliminate what we call academic corrections. On the other hand, starting in 2027, guide failed students towards a kind of one-year confinement that, as we know, will mainly refer to orientation towards their professional career. the only way “avoiding” the airlock will be choosing to do a CAP. This year of study would be hosted and managed by secondary schools without us yet knowing under what conditions or with what means. That is, in 2027, the DNB will become an essential key to access class 2.^of.

A kind of airlock

The main arguments put forward in support of this reform are the proven verification of a very low level of some of the fourth year secondary school students.^my and the need to prevent them from entering secondary school in poor conditions. They are part of a rhetoric focused on raising the bar. We recall here that almost all students in difficulty in secondary school come from disadvantaged social backgrounds and enter a professional sector in 2^of.

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