Francia: Anti-elitism algorithm to decide which secondary school Paris pupils attend

Europa/Francia/16 de Septiembre de 2016/Autor: Henry Samuel/Fuente: The Telegraph

RESUMEN: Un algoritmo decide qué escuela secundaria asisten los niños parisinos, en parte, basando su cálculo en su posición social en un intento de abordar el elitismo. Los críticos advierten la posibilidad que podría llevar a multitudes de parisinos a enviar a sus hijos a escuelas privadas. Hasta ahora, la zona de influencia de un alumno francés es el único criterio para decidir a qué escuela secundaria asistirá. Pero a partir de 2017, esta decisión se calculará a través de un algoritmo que también tendrá en cuenta si un niño es de una familia de bajos ingresos. Noticias del sistema informático se produjo días después de que Thomas Piketty, Economista francés estrella y autor del éxito de ventas de capital internacional en el siglo XXI, advirtió que «los alumnos desfavorecidos» están siendo excluidos de los establecimientos «socialmente SELECT» en Francia.

An algorithm is to decide which state secondary school Parisian children attend, in part basing its calculation on their social standing an attempt to tackle elitism.

Critics warn the chance could prompt droves of Parisians to send their children to private schools.

Until now, a French pupil’s catchment area is the sole criterion for deciding which secondary school he or she attends.

But from 2017, this decision will be calculated via an algorithm that will also factor in whether a child is from a low-income family.

News of the computerised system came days after Thomas Piketty star French economist and author of international bestseller Capital in the Twenty First Century warned that «disadvantaged pupils» are being shut out of «socially select» establishments in France.

«The level of social segregation seen in secondary schools is reaching unacceptable heights, notably in Paris,» he wrote in a blog post in Le Monde. The most upscale schools only had 0.3 per cent of its pupils from underprivileged backgrounds compared to 65 per cent on the other end of the scale.

The decision to use the algorithm by Paris’ education chief came just days after the French education minister, Najaf Vallaud-Belkacem, appeared to pour cold water on the idea.

«I think we should break away from the French myth of a global, uniform measurement, a political-technocratic revolution,» he told Le Monde. «I don’t think that an algorithm should be seen as a magic wand» to improve the social mix, he insisted.

Her words followed controversy over a similar computerised system that has been used since 2008 to decide which lycées French high school pupils should attend based on similar criteria.

While defenders of the system insist it has cut «the social segregation index» by 30 per cent, controversy struck in August when it transpired that 83 per cent of this year’s intake to a Paris lycée came from low-income pupils following an apparent glitch in the algorithm.

The lycée algorithm is based on pupils’ preferences, their marks and whether they receive grants for low income families and can send them to the other side of a large catchment area.

François Weil, Paris’ chief education officer, said the calculation would be different in secondary schools as younger children cannot be expected to travel too far from home.

Peep-Paris, a parents’ union, slammed the move, saying: «They want to correct the city’s (educational) policies by displacing children. But they shouldn’t be carrying the can. What I expect from the authorities is to make all state secondary schools attractive so that people want to go to them.»

Mr Piketty warned that the algorithm would only improve the social mix in Paris if it was also applied to Paris’ private secondary schools, which teach a third of the French capital’s pupils. Parents’ howls of protest were totally unjustified, he added, as such establishments all receive huge state subsidies.

Failure to do include them would see an even higher percentage of families send their children to private schools, he warned.

It was unclear on Wednesday whether private schools would be included.

Mr Weil’s office said: «(Private schools) will be included in different ways. We can agree on aims for social make-up, recruitment strategies.»

Le Monde said that suggested that the algorithm would likely not apply to them.

Fuente: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/14/anti-elitism-algorithm-to-decide-which-secondary-school-paris-pu/