Effectiveness, evaluation, territorial distribution. Reading the French university landscape

Abstract

This paper shows how the ‘the French university landscape’ can be read from a few perspectives. Those perspectives are associated with the author’s experience as a researcher, the chief inspector at the French Ministry of National Education, the prime minister^ advisor on national education, higher education and research, and, last but not least, the director of the International Centre for Pedagogical Studies (CIEP) in Sćvres near Paris. At first, the author presents the reform of higher education which has been running in France for a few years (parliamentary documents), assessment of the student environment and the links between universities and secondary schools. Then those issues are confronted against real-life practices. The author reviews the current reforms by asking about the correlation between the size of a university and its efficiency, its size and research work, as well as the correlation between education and research. He also reiterates the need for ongoing reflection on the mission of higher education and research.