Gaston Ternes

For more equal opportunities at school, review the promotion criteria!

 

Several international studies show the importance of the influence of a young person's socio-professional environment on their academic success. And when we talk about academic success, promotion criteria automatically come into play. Gaston Ternes, former high school principal and today an expert for the European Schools network, addresses this subject in his carte blanche.

 

The delay in a school career which extends for a year is not only catastrophic for the self-confidence of the young person, but it also has direct consequences on the performance of the entire school system. And yet, grade repetition is still a reality, more than twice as high in Luxembourg as the average for OECD countries.

 

In addition, make-up exams, the aim of which is promotion, are organized by what is called “Holiday work”. It is not uncommon for files impacting the final exam grade to be accompanied by qualified people. Families who cannot afford it are at a disadvantage. A question: don't children who missed the school year for various reasons deserve their vacation just as much as those who have mastered school requirements?

 

A majority of teachers are against repeating a year. However, they are also against automatic promotion, as the current discussion about it in lower general education shows. How can we best support students with academic difficulties?

 

The solution can be described as “integrated educational support”. It should be noted that this is targeted assistance, therefore necessarily differentiated, adapted to the individual needs of the young person during normal school time.

 

Such an initiative requires several stages: a diagnosis with all the stakeholders concerned, the development of an individual project and a regular evaluation of the work.

 

This cannot simply be transferred to regular teaching staff, but must be developed by specialist pedagogues and subject didactics experts who support the teacher. This is an essential criterion for the success of the process. Differentiation in teaching would be done on the basis of application exercises. Co-teaching, successive or simultaneous differentiation, the distribution of groups according to needs or level, are, according to the French specialist in educational sciences Philippe Meirieu, interesting strategies in this regard.

 

The student takes the same tests as the other students. This point is important, because summative evaluations make it possible to situate the young person's level in relation to the class average.

 

It is only in the event of large differences that the school, parents and the young person should consider a reorientation better suited to the young person's talents.

 

The theme of promotion is essential if we want to take another step towards a fairer and more efficient school. A mission to begin directly after the elections, therefore from October 9!