Baccalaureate
The French Baccalauréat (informal short form Bac , analogous to "Abi") corresponds roughly to the Abitur or Matura . Strictly speaking, although it is only a secondary school education, it is understood as a first degree in France, Romania, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia; the examination committee is chaired by a university professor.
Different types of Baccalauréat
There are three different types of baccalaureate :
- Baccalauréat général (acquired at the Lycée ) with three subjects ( filières ): literature and philosophy (Bac L - littéraire) , natural science (Bac S - scientifique) and social sciences (Bac ES - économique et social)
- Baccalauréat technologique with eight disciplines such as hotel, medical and social professions, laboratory professions ...
- Baccalauréat professionnel with over 50 specialties from plastic foundry to auto mechanics to sole trader.
The Düsseldorf education researcher Rainer Bölling gives the following data:
- “Behind this national event is a huge organizational and financial effort. In 2011, 166,866 examiners were deployed in 4,737 exam centers to examine 654,548 candidates. 4,880 tasks had been created for the various tests, around four million papers had to be corrected. The costs amounted to 83.10 euros per candidate, a total of around 54.4 million euros. "
Bölling takes a critical view of the comparability of the grades in this French central high school diploma:
- “This impression [of the comparability of the grades] is clearly weakened [...] when looking at the correction process. Since there are no nationwide valid assessment requirements and no second or even third correction, the result depends on only one examiner per subject. And there can be big differences in evaluation. In 2006 and 2007, three school projects in the ES subject were independently assessed by thirty economics teachers. For one work the ratings ranged from 5 to 16, for another from 8 to 18 out of 20 points. "
Eligibility to study
All of these baccalauréats entitle you to study at a French university or Grande école , according to the theory. Since the Baccalauréat is the first academic degree, there are no admission restrictions ( numerus clausus ) at French universities . The Grandes Écoles, however, hold concours - i.e. selection procedures - for which you normally prepare yourself after completing the Baccalauréat at the age of two in a class preparatory. However, more and more Grandes Écoles are opening up to applicants who have no previous academic qualifications. The acquis professionnels , i.e. the applicant's professional career, are used here. The management elite university ENA is also following this pattern.
Recognition of the Baccalauréat
Germany
The problem of recognition of the Baccalaureate in Germany is relatively complex. The Conference of Ministers of Education put 1986 firmly a catalog, the foreign credentials have to meet to be recognized as a university in Germany (about six compartments, including two languages, mathematics, something social, etc.).
Only the Baccalauréat général fulfills all of these requirements and is therefore recognized as an unrestricted general higher education entrance qualification. Both the Baccalauréats technologiques and the Baccalauréats professionnels generally do not fully qualify for a course of study at a German university.
The Baccalauréat in Belgium and Canada
In Belgium and Canada, the baccalauréat is not a secondary school diploma, but an academic degree that is awarded after at least three years of university studies (e.g. Bachelier ès Arts , Bachelière en Sciences médicales ).
Differences in terms
The French term bachelier corresponds to the journeyman or the Latin baccalaureus . The relatively new academic degree is called Bachelor .
The German baccalaureate , also baccalaureate , over Engl. bachelor , is a university degree that entitles the holder to bear the title of Baccalaureus . The theological baccalaureate ends with the final degree of Baccalaureus Theologiae seu Divinitatis ; it is identical to the Bachelor .
literature
- Rainer Bölling, The French Central Abitur - A Model for Germany? Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 59, 2013, pp. 868–886
- Martin Villinger, Education Reform in France (Current Analyzes of France, No. 33), July 2018
