Back to school 2023: date, news and practical information

The September school year is approaching. Here are all the answers to practical questions about this important moment for children, parents and teachers.

After the holidays always comes the start of the school year. And it always arrives faster than expected. This year, it involves some changes for teachers and students. News, measures in the event of the absence of teachers, upgrading of the teaching profession, families affected by the back-to-school allowance... Important information concerns this back-to-school 2023.

The date of the "big" back to school in September corresponds to Monday, September 4, 2023 for all students, from primary school to high school. The last day of class for the next school year is scheduled for Saturday, July 6, 2024, or even the day before for students who do not have classes on Saturday. We also already know that the start of the school year in September 2024 will take place on Monday, September 2, and that the start of the school year 2025 will be held on Monday, September 1.

This is the main novelty currently planned for the start of the 2023 school year. The return of compulsory mathematics education for all high school students in the general stream from the first class at the start of the 2023 school year was announced by the Minister of National Education on November 13, 2022. promote equality between girls and boys in this discipline:

To combat gender stereotypes and encourage equality between girls and boys, the government is planning overall actions to promote and revalorize scientific orientations among young girls in schools. Objective ? Achieve gender parity by 2027 in mathematics, physics-chemistry and expert mathematics specialties and strive towards parity for other scientific courses: engineering sciences, digital and computer sciences.

From the start of the school year in September 2023, all 6th graders without exception must benefit from an additional hour of French or math per week. A circular was published by the Ministry of National Education on this point on January 12. The objective of the Minister of Education Pap Ndiaye: to improve the general level of the students, considered too low. On entering college, the ministry found that one in four students did not have the required level in French, and one in three in mathematics.

Measures have been announced by the government to "make the teaching profession more attractive". During the back-to-school meeting of academy rectors, at the Sorbonne, on August 25, 2022, Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that the teaching profession was "insufficiently recognized", announcing better remuneration: "No teacher will start his career under 2000 euros net monthly", he promised. A commitment made for the start of the 2023 school year. All administrative staff and teachers will see their salaries increase by 10%.

To provoke this "shock of attractiveness", Pap NDiaye also announced during his back-to-school press conference "attractive initial remuneration" and a "revitalization of careers" through negotiations from the fall of 2022 with the social partners, "from the budgetary frameworks included in the 2023 finance bill". In addition, an "exceptional competition for the tenure of contract teachers", must be organized in the spring of 2023. With regard to the shortage of public school transport, the Minister of Education Pap NDiaye has promised a renovation of the school transport driver CAP "in order to enter into a movement to strengthen the attractiveness of these professions". And this, from the start of the 2023 school year.

What if your child doesn't have a teacher in the weeks following the start of the school year? Your child will be taken care of and will be able to stay in school, which must ensure permanence. Thus, the law says that “Any child enrolled in a public nursery or elementary school is welcomed during school time to follow the lessons provided for by the programs. He benefits from a free reception service when these lessons cannot be delivered to him due to the unforeseeable absence of his teacher and the impossibility of replacing him. However, the parents' unions recommend that you immediately notify the rectorate so that a substitute can pick up your child's lesson time slot.

Back to school has a cost, and many households benefit from the back-to-school allowance or back-to-school bonuses each year. Receiving aid is based on family income. For the year 2022, for example those of 2020 are taken into account. The back-to-school allowance (ARS) was paid on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, subject to means, to families with children aged 6 to 18 attending school in a public or private establishment or in a remote organization such as the Cned. The income conditions range from 25,370 euros with one dependent child to 37,080 euros with three children and then 5,852 euros for each additional child.

The amount of the 2022 back-to-school allowance has also been increased. A second payment therefore took place in September. Here are the amounts paid for the start of the 2022 school year, including the 4% increases provided for by the government: 392.05 euros per child aged 6 to 10, 413.69 euros per child aged 11 to 14 and 428.02 euros per child aged 15 to 18.