- In 1833, a law initiated by François Guizot (the Guizot law) laid the foundations for the supervision and development of primary education. Public education is organized by the municipalities with the support of the State and the Church.
- Under the Second Empire, schools were created by Victor Duruy:there were schools for boys and schools for girls.
- Under III th Republic, the Republicans in power wish to bring together the citizens of the French Nation. The school is the way to spread their ideology widely.
- The government created schools in 1879 to train teachers to replace religious personnel.
- In 1881, Jules Ferry had been Minister of Public Instruction since 1879.
1881 - 1886
Characters
Jules Ferry
Procedure
To set up a secular republican school, the laws of Jules Ferry are done in several stages with the promulgation of several legislative texts. First of all, the law of June 16, 1881 made education accessible to all:school became free. Then, a law on school education was promulgated on March 28, 1882. This legislative text aimed to make education compulsory and secular for boys and girls aged 6 to 13 in public establishments. Teaching is carried out by teachers who have obtained a certificate of capacity since the law of June 16, 1881. Religious also obtain the certificate of capacity and are still present in public establishments. These legislative texts take the name of the minister at the origin of their promulgation:the Ferry laws.
In 1886, the Goblet law relating to the organization of primary education supplemented the legal texts of 1881 and 1882. Teaching in public schools was entrusted solely to lay teachers holding a certificate of competency. Religious can no longer obtain it. Nursery schools are created to accommodate children from 2 to 6 years old. Elementary primary schools educate children from 6 to 13 years old during the compulsory period. For children over the age of 13, education is no longer compulsory. Pupils who so wish can continue their education in secondary primary schools:these are the brightest children, most often from the working classes.
Consequences
- The Ferry laws are a success, the children's schooling is almost complete. Teaching is carried out in French, regional languages are prohibited in schools. A single language is spoken throughout France. Schools make it possible to transmit republican ideas, even in the most remote regions of Paris.
- Excluded from schools, the secularization of education causes a loss of power for the Church, which will be weakened again in 1905 with the law on the separation of Church and State.