Business schools: the government gives up its plan to reform preparatory classes
It is a reform that should curb “the disenchantment of prepas” economic and commercial, whose workforce has fallen by more than 14% since 2020. According to concordant sources, which confirm information from the specialized media “News Tank”, the government should finally give up.
Several unions as well as the association of teachers of economic and commercial preparatory classes – which had deemed the project “deleterious” – had called for a strike for this Thursday. A petition launched at the end of last year and calling for opposition to the reform has collected more than 5,600 signatures.
The reform was planned for this spring and its entry into force scheduled for September 2024. “The subject of preparatory classes […] is a point that matters to me, declared the Minister of National Education at the end of last year. We must worry about small warning signs that constitute the numbers of some of these classes. »
In the entourage of the Minister of Higher Education, Sylvie Retailleau, we only assure, for the moment, that “proposals had been put on the table, but that they were never formalized in the form of reform “.
Impacted by the high school reform
After the high school reform, the two old paths (ECE and ECS) of the preparatory classes had merged into the new path called ECG (economic and general commercial) for which the question arises of the ” recruitment pool », as the association of teachers APHEC regularly points out. Entering the economic and commercial preparatory class presupposes having followed the mathematics speciality. However, the baccalaureate reform has reduced the number of students who have followed this discipline compared to the former S and ES baccalaureate holders, argues the association.
Impacted by the reform of the high school and the arrival of bachelors, the preparatory classes saw their numbers decrease. A trend that affects in particular those who are installed in the regions even though, for the defenders of the preparatory classes, they are decisive for the diversity of the sector.
Drop in contest entries
The side effects are already visible. Enrollment in competitive entrance exams for major business schools is down 8% compared to last year “mainly due to the decline in numbers in ECG preparatory classes”, has just announced the main bank for competitive examinations, the BCE, which brings together 19 management schools, from Audencia to TBS Education via Edhec, emlyon, HEC Paris and Skema. “The energies of all stakeholders must be mobilized in order to strengthen the attractiveness of preparatory classes, in particular the general route (ECG) of the economic and commercial sector”, underlines the ECB.
The promoters of the reform explained at the end of last year that they wanted to avoid having to close preparatory classes in the future. lack of sufficient staff . Be careful not to rejoice too quickly at the abandonment of the reform, at the risk of crying tomorrow, one of them is already slipping.
