Following cooperation agreements between the French Education Ministry and the German government, two types of Franco-German bilingual initiatives for general secondary education were put in place. The initiatives concern:
These schools, which underwent development within the framework of Franco-German cooperation in 1987, have Franco-German bilingual sections based on twinning between a French school and a German school and on the joint definition of projects which are implemented through regular contact and exchanges.
Starting in seconde, pupils receive training which prepares them to become candidates for the AbiBac. This system is intended for pupils in France and Germany who have a good command of the partner language.
The programme to develop German in France and French in Germany provides for the extension of the system to cover all French académies (regional education authorities) and all German Länder by 2007. In September 2005,35 French lycées (three of them in Germany) and their German partners had Franco-German bilingual sections.
This system was the earliest model for Franco-German cooperation. It was created in 1972, and was the first attempt at achieving a degree of convergence between two rather different education systems. It leads to a "Franco-German schooling baccalaureate" (baccalauréat de l'enseignement franco-allemand). The diploma is awarded notably on the basis of continuous assessment. The combination of the French and German approaches bears only a limited resemblance to the national systems on which it is based, and the initiative has not been developed.
Direction générale de l'Enseignement scolaire - Publié le 20 février 2007
© Ministère de l'Éducation nationale
