“Without all the ‘hard’ sciences and the humanities, mathematics will be of no use to our children”

Tribune. Following the high school reform, and according to figures from the Ministry of Education, mathematics lost 37% of their students in the final year. But this observation is just as valid for the physical and chemical sciences, where the reduction is 36%, and even more so for the life and earth sciences (SVT), which fall by 50%!

This collapse is mainly explained by the choice of options in a reduced number: between the first and the terminal, our children now go from three to two specialties, and mix and match the subjects much less. At the risk of absurdities: thus, future biologists in the broad sense (agronomists, doctors, veterinarians, etc.) cling to selection subjects, mathematics and physics and chemistry, to the detriment of SVTs.

We are witnessing a real paradox. At a time when the climate, health and biodiversity crises are becoming major issues, the teaching of the logics of life and the Earth is drastically reduced. Indeed, the scientific deficit in high school affects all students: some literary students may only have 7% of hours of “hard” science! Will their culture and their methods allow them to understand the existing tools in the face of current changes?

Lack of training

Current events have shown how, in a health crisis, biological knowledge is essential for understanding collective issues; climate change or the toxicity of plastics cannot be understood without a minimum of geosciences, physics and chemistry. It is therefore urgent to increase the number of specialties from two to three in the final class, and also to increase the number of hours of scientific teaching in the common core to better combine knowledge.

The problem begins in primary school, where scientific training is conspicuous by its absence. In fact, recently 1^is Februaryand therefore late in the five-year term, the Minister of Education launched a plan for science and technology in primary education.

Also read the interview: Article reserved for our subscribers “High school reform makes math play a selective and punitive role”

The challenge is the training of teachers in schools who, despite remarkable personal initiatives, mostly have neither the initial training nor any ongoing training to teach these areas.

But another plan, previously launched for mathematics and French in primary education, occupies all the hours of continuing education for the years to come. The BioGée Federationwhich we support, has proposed possible solutions.

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