{ BY:Renée

Languages spoken in France  French  French sign languages  Spanish  German  Italian  Catalan  Flemish  Dutch France is the largest country in Western Europe and the third- largest in Europe as a whole. Government Type Republic

 In 2002, about 83% to 88% of the population were nominally Roman Catholic,  About 2% were Protestant  about 7% to 8%Jews  About 4% subscribed to no religion at all The name "France" comes from the Latin Francia, which means "country of the Franks". The capital of France is Paris

Participation in education (2008 figures ) MaleFemaleTotal Primary (6 to 11 years) 99% 98% Secondary( 11 to 18 years) 98%99%98%

 A French school is different from English schools they are far behind (like Math) and are way ahead in subject like Science EDUCATION Schooling is free and compulsory from age 6 to 16, preschool is also free, but not compulsory, from 2 to 6. Nearly all children enroll because the French believe that preschools are important for developing the communication skills for young children school year starts in early September

Continue of education Public primary school day starts at 8:30 or 9am, has two-hour lunch break around noon, and then lasts until 4:30 or 5pm. Children go to school on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and have Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Nearly 20 percent of all children attend Catholic schools

 College similar to junior high school, last four years. School goes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, with a half day on Wednesday. Secondary education, lasting seven years, is offered by colleges and lycées (a French public secondary school that prepares students for the university)

 After college, students take an exam called the brevet. Students then have more than one option they can follow: continue on to high school ( known as lycées) or go to a trade school to gain experience in a specific trade.  French lycées involve a full week of classes and a large amount of homework, all French student are required to study English.

 After secondary education, students take an exam to determine whether they may go on to higher education  The best students take further preparatory classes in order to attend the grandes, écoles where they study for careers in government, the military, education, and industry, engineering, marketing, and

 Women are still less educated than men: female adult illiteracy is sixty-four percent as compared to thirty- eight percent for males.  Primary school enrollment is eighty-six percent for boys and sixty-seven percent for girls.

 Home Education  A school inspector inspects the home schooled child once a year.  Home schooling in France has been legal since December 1998  May require homeschooled students to be tested, France French law allows home schooling officially but the majority of French people do not know they have this choice.

The following aspects of French education may surprise you: In theory, children must attend their nearest school (unless having private education) but in practice there are various ways of getting a child into another school, Schools make little use of computers and all homework must be handwritten - on squared paper; calculators are not used until secondary school (age 11).

School holidays are among the longest in the world; summer holidays last between 10 and 12 weeks. Children are not permitted to wear any sign of religious affiliation to school, e.g. crosses or (Muslim) headscarves. Homework isn't common in primary schools but is onerous at secondary level, pupils having at least two hours homework each day. Children are expected to bring a lot of books home each evening and few schools provide adequate lockers.

 Children learn to sing in primary school and to read music, to play the recorder and other instruments in secondary school.  Few French teachers speak good English - except English teachers

Even though attendance is mandatory up to the age of 16, about 150,000 students leave school each year without a high school diploma, many from the junior high level.

Works Cited e/France-RELIGIONS.html zone/europe/european- union/france/facts/index.htm search.proquest.com.helin.uri.edu/docview/ ?accountid= nning/laws/france/ paris/474-education-in-france