More classes for foreign parents

THE NUMBER of schools offering free French lessons to foreign parents is set to triple this year, the government has announced.

Some 3,000 adults currently benefit from the scheme in 750 schools around France. Le Parisien says it will be extended to 9,000 people and 750 classes from the new academic year in September.

The scheme should be available to all nationalities - including EU citizens. The French anti-discrimination body La Halde ruled in 2009 that the previous policy to bar European citizens from the free lessons was not acceptable.

Interior minister Claude Guéant said the initiative was designed to "unify our society" and offer "a better quality of life to parents who come to France", while also helping children succeed with their school work.

Guéant has been criticised in recent weeks for repeatedly claiming in speeches and interviews that pupils from an immigrant background do less well at school - despite there being no figures available to back up the claim.

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