Word: baccalaureate
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1955-1955
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...since the days of Napoleon has France changed its fundamental educational goals. The secondary schools are still so rigidly academic that only about one in every four children gets into them. Those who do must face the dreaded baccalauréat (bachot) exam to graduate. Many must memorize stacks of Greek and Latin verbs, know how to translate Seneca and Tacitus, analyze (in English) the works of De Quincey, Ruskin and George Eliot, be familiar with everything from the Pensées of Pascal to the characters of Corneille...
...also suggested that all current examinations, including the bachot, be abolished. With that, the Paris press erupted. Former Education Minister André Marie declared that despite its "injustices," the bachot should stay. Onetime Boxing Champion Georges Carpentier bluntly announced: "I am against the baccalauréat." Actor Jean-Louis Barrault said, "I adore it," but Actor Sacha Guitry, who spent six terms in one form, snorted: "Tellme, what good would the bachot have done Rodin...
| 1 |