Le bac - French Rite of Passage.

As ‘French-American’ educators and explorers of each other’s culture, here’s a topic of interest to us - the French baccalaureate which has just taken place.

Unlike the U.S., France schools do not have graduation ceremonies with students marching onto the stage in their black gowns, the reading of speeches and the giving of diplomas. They don’t have proms, the formal end-of-high-school dance either, with guys dressed in tuxedos and bowties, and girls with their formal dresses and corsage (i.e. ‘bouquet’, not to be confused with the French word which means ‘blouse’).

Yet the French also have their rite of passage, it is ‘le bac’ (the baccalaureate).

Le bac is the end-of-high school exam that French students must pass in order to go to college and university. In France it has become a real rite-of-passage in a very Jacobin fashion since it was created by Napoleon in 1808 - every student is supposed to sit for the exam at the exact same time, and if a single mistake is made in some corner of the country or if some fraud is suspected then an alternative subject is ready. At the core of the procedure of this very costly exam (an estimated 65 euros per student) is the idea of fairness.

Every year, the exam is launched with the Philosophy exam, with topics such as “whether language's only purpose is to communicate” or “whether being free simply means not encountering obstacle” (2005 exam).

The exam and the subjects are the hot topics in the media every year, with the very same reports and articles about the students’ anxieties, the preparation, etc….

This year, a total of 634,168 students are taking "le bac," from mainland France to South Pacific territories or India (Pondichery) and in lots of countries with French lycees, or high schools.

It is worth noticing that the French are very attached to their ‘bac’. As pointed out in this article, “In France, a student who goes on to higher education doesn't say he has a university degree, for instance. He says he has a "bac plus two" or "bac plus four," depending on the number of years at university.”.This year, the (previous) Minister of Education tried to modify the exam by using test points accumulated over the year toward passing the exam. Well, there was general uproar and, bien sûr, demonstrations and strikes. The minister eventually backed down.
The bac is clearly more than a mere exam in France, it also serves as a unifying element to a nation that has lost some of its other rites of passage (such as the mandatory military service for young men). It is perceived as part of the French identity.

This year, 4 million tests are being corrected by 129,441 correctors, (all high school teachers) and I’m one of them. You get about 80 papers to grade over a week, and it takes about ½ an hour to grade one single paper, so it is quite a bit of (boring and repetitive) work that one must do as exactly and fairly and as possible.

Here’s a few basics concerning the bac in case you might be interested:

Most examinations are given in essay-form. The student is given a substantial block of time (depending on the exam, from two to four hours) to complete a four to six page, well-argued paper. Math and science exams are problem sets. All foreign language exams include a short translation section as well.

A passing mark is a 10 out of 20. Three levels of honors are also given. A mark of 12 will earn a student a "mention assez-bien", a mark of 14 will earn a "mention bien" and a mark of 16 will earn a mention of "très bien". If a student earns an 8, he or she is permitted to sit for the "épreuve de ratrapage", an oral exam given in two subjects. If the student does well enough in these orals to raise the total grade to a 10, then he or she receives his or her baccalauréat. If the student does badly in the orals or receives below an 8, he or she may choose to sit for the entire examination once again in September. If in September, the student fails, he or she may choose to repeat the final year of lycée.