More oral English for lycée pupils
Education minister promises everyone in first year of lycée chance of holiday top-up sessions
ALL pupils in the first year of lycée, the seconde, will be offered free holiday courses in oral English this school year.
Education minister Luc Chatel made the pledge as he was visiting a group doing one of the courses at a Parisian school.
He said that while the courses had existed since 2008, they have not been on offer in all lycées before now.
This does not mean every seconde pupil must do one, but they must at least have the option, he said.
The courses are three hours a day for five days. They focus on skills including role-playing and working on pronunciation.
Mr Chatel has spoken about his wish for a "back to basics" approach to manners in school.
He said on the news channel LCI that he was "favourable" towards the idea that pupils should stand up when a teacher comes into the room.
It was already enforced in some classrooms, but was not systematic, he said.
New this school year is an obligation for all schools to have a charter of pupils' rights and obligations.
The largest parents' federation, FCPE, has raised concerns about the amount of homework pupils do at lycée.
They should not have to do more than 35 hours of work, school and homework combined, said its president, Jean-Jacques Hazan.
Dmitry Kudryavtsev - Fotolia.com
