Editing Culture of France (section)

===Education===
{{Main|Education in France}}
[[File:Absolute BNUS 01.JPG|thumb|alt=Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire at Strasbourg, stone building with portico by a park|The [[Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire|National and University Library]] on the campus of the [[University of Strasbourg]]]]
The French educational system is highly centralized.<ref name="auto11">Ben-David, Joseph and Philip G. Altbach. eds. ''Centers of Learning: Britain, France, Germany, United States'' (2nd ed. 2017).</ref> It is divided into three different stages: primary education, or ''enseignement primaire, ''corresponding to grade school in the United States; secondary education, or ''[[collège]]'' and ''[[lycée]], ''corresponding to middle and high school in the United States; and higher education ([[List of colleges and universities in France|l'université]] or ''les [[Grandes écoles]]'').

Primary and secondary education is predominantly public (private schools also exist, in particular a strong nationwide network of primary and secondary [[Catholic school|Catholic education]]), while higher education has both public and private elements. At the end of secondary education, students take the [[baccalauréat]] exam, which allows them to pursue higher education. The baccalauréat pass rate in 2012 was 84.5%.

In 1999–2000, educational spending amounted to 7% of the French GDP and 37% of the national budget.

France's performance in math and science at the middle school level was ranked 23 in the 1995 [[TIMSS|Trends in International Math and Science Study]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timss.bc.edu/timss1995i/HiLightB.html|title=TIMSS 1995 Highlights of Results for the Middle School Years|website=timss.bc.edu|access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref> France was ranked 22 in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nces.ed.gov/timss/countries.asp|title=Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – TIMSS Participating Countries|website=nces.ed.gov|access-date=21 August 2017|archive-date=27 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127181747/http://nces.ed.gov/timss/countries.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the [[Jules Ferry laws]] of 1881–2, named after the then Minister of Public Instruction, all state-funded schools, including universities, are independent from the (Roman Catholic) Church. Education in these institutions is free. Non-secular institutions are allowed to organize education as well. The French educational system differs strongly from Northern-European and American systems in that it stresses the importance of partaking in a society as opposed to being responsibly independent.

Secular educational policy has become critical in recent issues of French multiculturalism, as in the "[[French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools|affair of the Islamic headscarf]]".