du+lycée

n. m. (sch.): Discipline monitor in a French lycée. (The jocularity of the word stems from the corruption of the word pion, the colloquial term for a surveillant d'externat whose main function is to exercise discipline in the absence of teachers.)

n. m. (sch.): Pupil of a lycée or other secondary education establishment.

n. m. (sch., corr. proviseur): Headmaster of a lycee.

n. m. (sch. abbr. surveillant général): Nonteaching senior member of staff in lycée or collège whose task it is to deal with discipline within those establishments.

, Agrégé

   The Agrégation is a competitive exam for the recruitment of a privileged category of secondary-school (high school) teachers in France, known as agrégés. The system was first introduced in 1766. The exam is open to candidates who are either already qualified secondary teachers, or else students who have already completed at least one year of postgraduate studies (a maîtrise or the first year of a masters). Each year, a number of places are made available in each of the subjects for which an Agrégation exists. There are always far more candidates than places, since obtaining the agrégation puts teachers or future teachers on the fast track to promotion, gives them less teaching hours than ordinary qualified teachers, better chances of getting a job in a top lycée, and in some though not all cases is a virtual prerequisite for applying for lectureships in French universities. Though the agrégation is specifically a qualification for the teaching profession, the competitive exam itself has little or nothing to do with teaching, being academic and research-based. Consequently, the system has been regularly criticized from within the teaching world as being outdated and inappropriate. In the disciplines of law and medicine, the agrégation is specifically a competitive exam for the qualification of university professors.

   (pronounced [Cap-ess])

   Certificat d'Aptitude Pédagogique de l'Enseignement Secondaire. Competitive exam ( concours) taken by graduates wishing to become qualified teachers ( professseur certifié) in the French state secondary education service. Competition for places is generally keen, and those who succeed are guaranteed a tenured teaching job in a lycée or a collège. A number of places is fixed each year for each subject, meaning that the level actually required to become qualified may vary from year to year, depending on the balance between the number of places and the number of candidates.

   Middle school, the intermediate level in French school education between primary school and lycée. For more details see Primary and Secondary Education in France.

   The French higher education system is different from that of other developed countries, and the pinnacle of the system is represented not by universities, but by classically French institutions known as "Grandes Ecoles". Unlike most university departments, which are open to all students with a relevant baccalaureate, Grandes Ecoles operate a highly competitive selection process. The classic way to train for these competitive entrance exams ( concours) is to take two years' extra classes, known as Classes Préparatoires, in Lycée, after theBaccalaureate. See higher education in France.

   The first year of classes préparatoires in the litterary stream. Students who have just passed the litterary or economics/social baccalaureate, and who want to take the concours (competitive entrance exams) for certain grandes écoles, may well choose to stay on for two more years at lycée, in small select classes called khâgne and hypokhâgne, rather than enrol in large classes in the first two years of university arts or social science faculties. See Higher Education in France

   See Lycée Professionnel

   See Lycée Professionnel