Reform of educational patterns
Elements of context
The legislative framework
Two decrees govern the implementation of the reform of school time: decree no. 2013-77 of 24 January 2013 on the organization of school time in nursery and elementary schools, as well as decree no. 2014-457 of 7 May 2014 authorizing experiments relating to the organization of school rhythms in nursery and elementary schools.
The main changes concern the requirement for a fifth morning dedicated to learning, in order to program the teaching sequences at times when the students' faculty of concentration is greatest, and the validation by the Academic Director of National Education Services (DASEN) of the organization of the school week of each school of the department for which he is responsible.
In addition, the Education Code, amended by Law No. 2013-595, establishes in Article L551-1 a territorial educational project (PEDT) for the organisation of extracurricular activities. Supported by the municipality or public inter-municipal cooperation institution (EPCI), drawn up and implemented by a steering committee, this PEDT must ensure the coherence of the different educational times.
The timetable for reform
As of September 2013, nearly 4,000 municipalities have implemented the new school rhythms. In the 2014 school year, the reform applied to all municipalities in charge of a nursery or elementary school, 19,300 municipalities in addition to the 4,000 already committed.
The impact of the reform of school rhythms on BEC
A phenomenon of acceleration of the implementation of the BEC journey
The May 3, 2013 interdepartmental circular relative to the EAC course underlines the necessary complementarity between the different life times of the young person, for the conception of a comprehensive and coherent artistic and cultural educational offer. The implementation of the reform of school schedules acts as a catalyst in the global consideration of the child and promotes a better articulation of the different times in the development of EAC projects.
In concrete terms, projects carried out at the level of an institution or territory involve the teams in charge of teaching and animation, as well as those of the public services of the cultural structures of the territory concerned. They sometimes benefit from joint training directly related to the project implemented, designed by the pilot cultural structure and/or the artist or artistic collective in residence. They work together to develop the pedagogical, artistic and cultural aspects of the project, and they have joint evaluation times, etc.
These new forms of collaboration between teaching teams and animation teams have been facilitated by the reform of school rhythms. They contribute to the coherence of the course developed on the different times of the child. This evolution sometimes allows a real enrichment of the projects, the extracurricular time can, for example, promote activities in small groups.
A gradual rebalancing of budgets in favour of school time
In 2014, €7 million in new credits were delegated to the DRAC under the BEC plan in conjunction with local and regional authorities, the courseof EAC, articulating the different times of the child.
In 2015, €8.7 million were allocated to the DRAC under the EAC plan, including nearly €2 million in new funding. To this is added, over the same budget year, the exceptional thaw of the 224 programme to the tune of €4 million sent to the DRAC and intended in particular for the EAC.
These additional resources, but also a large part of the 34 M € of common law dedicated to the EAC on action 2 of the 224 programme, contribute to the complementarity of educational time in the artistic and cultural fields.
The desire of the Ministry of Culture and Communication to accompany the reform of school time is reflected in an increasing use of its budgets in favour of projects articulating these different times. It therefore mobilizes its credits on school time and off school time, in partnership with local authorities.
Some difficulties encountered
A delicate point concerns the qualifications of the workers and their remuneration. The new extracurricular activities (NAP) have been set up in very different legal frameworks from one local authority to another. Some NAPs, eligible for support from the Family Allowance Fund (CAF), have developed within the framework of a declared leisure accommodation without accommodation (ALSH), governed by strict constraints in terms of supervision and qualification of staff.
Order of 9 February 2007 establishing the titles and diplomas for the animation and management functions in holiday stays, accommodation without accommodation and Scouting receptions was modified in 2014 to take into account 4 new diplomas, including the Diploma universitaire de musicien intervenant (DUMI). The inclusion of Dumists in this list is a guarantee of the quality of musical interventions in extra-curricular time.
However, many NAPs are implemented outside this framework. Often faced with recruitment problems, the communities then call on punctual workers, animation staff who do not have the required qualifications for a declared ALSH, or volunteers.