Education reforms delayed until 2010
"Spectacular" u-turn as minister says changes to lycée can wait as opposition mounts.
LYCEE reforms have been delayed by at least a year by Education Minister Xavier Darcos.
This means that they are now expected to take effect from the start of the 2010 – 2011 school year instead of 2009 – 2110.
The last minute u-turn came just days after Darcos said that the protests against his plans were being led by a “small group of malcontents” and vowed that his reforms to the seconde class would go ahead.
His actions have led Le Figaro to brand him the “Hesitation Minister.” Le Monde said the move was “as spectacular as it was unexpected”.
The Education Ministry has insisted that the reforms have not been abandoned but postponed after a meeting with President Sarkozy.
Le Monde claims that rising tensions in Greece and a history of student protests turning violent in France may also have been behind the decision.
“This is not a step-down but an observation that the social climate has changed a lot and that young people are very worried,” said a spokesman for the Education Ministry.
“We are going to leave more time to put the changes to the seconde in place and look more widely at reforming lycée education as a whole,” a spokesman added.
A spokeswoman for the Snes union, Claudie Martens, said: “We’re very happy with this decision, we’ve been asking for it for weeks.”
Photo:Service photo de Matignon
