"Searching for the Grand Paris"
"Culture and education: the suburbs versus Paris?"
-It is the result of a historical process,
which, very early in the development of the city,
led to a distinction between one part, North, North West,
much more industrial, much more working class,
which was also the area that historically welcomed immigrants
or those descended from immigrants,
and a western part,
which was more privileged, less industrialized,
which had, apart from the exceptions
in the northern part of the Hautes-de-Seine
and the Seine Valley, Mantes-la-Jolie, Les Mureaux, and so on,
much less working-class industry.
So, we see something...
A historical process, a process of differentiation
between one part, the North, North West, more working class,
and then the West, the western regions,
much more residential, and much less industrial.
And so, the result of this process
is that educational excellence is concentrated in one area,
in the West, but not in the East.
Areas such as Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Versailles, Sceaux, Reuilly-Malmaison,
to point only at a few cities that have been gathering for a long time
educational excellence, both public and private,
which results in an advantage
in terms of attractiveness and reputation,
in both sectors.
This lasts from junior high school until preparatory class.
It is not so much a difference in the number of public establishments
between the East and the West
that explains this difference.
When we when we look at these establishments qualitatively,
at the people that they accept,
at what the school has to offer,
then we see that there are qualitative differences,
which show reputations and hierarchies
that are very influential throughout the region.
Fundamentally, there is a difference in achievement
and how popular a school is,
between the majority of establishments in Seine-Saint-Denis,
to take an example in this department,
and the majority of those in Hauts-de-Seine.
It is the combination
of a very different profile of social and ethnic intake
and a differently structured educational offering,
with the aim of accommodating,
particularly in priority education areas,
pupils mainly from disadvantaged working-class backgrounds.
And so, the establishment's policies and the educational policies
are centered on the priority education areas,
which constitute the everyday situation for most of Seine-Saint-Denis.
In a large part of the Hauts-de-Seine and some parts of the Yvelines,
the priority is to maintain the rivalry
between the academically superior establishments.
So, we can see that the reasons behind the educational differentiation
reflect the reasons behind urban segregation
and the importance of an establishment's reputation
that charaterize French school system.
We must also understand
that there is an ambiguity surrounding the idea of positive discrimination,
whether housing-based or school-based.
Basically, if we take the example of priority education areas,
we can understand the logic behind them,
of giving more to schools that accept pupils
who are struggling academically.
But one of the negative effects
of targeting certain establishments,
of labelling them "priority education areas"
is that it makes the parents uncomfortable
because they associate this label with an establishment in difficulty.
Therefore, they will anticipate,
through school avoidance or through other educational strategies,
and avoid "taking the risk" of sending children to school,
who, through this labelling,
through the fact that they benefit from a positive discrimination policy,
will be perceived as being more disadvantaged than others.
You can see the contradiction and the ambiguity here
between the desire to give these schools additional resources,
precisely because they accept more disadvantaged pupils,
but consequently, because of this program,
they are labelled and stigmatised.
So we can see clearly the limitations of school policy
when it comes to desegregation.
Fundamentally,
it would be better to take more action on the residential front,
with more desegregation measures
in terms of housing.
Then, we would be in a position to think about the education sector
which would be more diversified, more mixed.
