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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Continuing professional development for teachers working in early childhood and school education

France

9.Teachers and education staff

9.3Continuing professional development for teachers working in early childhood and school education

Last update: 27 November 2023

Organisational Aspects

The law of July 8th, 2013 modified the dispositions regarding teaching personnel of Chapter IV in the programming law no. 2005-380 of April 23rd, 2005 for the future of school that introduced Article L. 912-1-2 of the French Code of Education. Each teacher is encouraged to train regularly. Continuous training adapted to the needs of teaching staff is available, particularly in Écoles Supérieure du Professorat et de l’Éducation (ESPE - Higher Schools for Professorship and Education).

When it corresponds to a personal project contributing to the improvement of teaching and is approved by the Recteur d’Académie, the teacher training takes place primarily outside the teaching service obligations and may be compensated.

The Department defines the Plan National de Formation (PNF – National Training Plan). Academic authorities are in charge of the continuing vocational training of permanent teachers, must define the Plan Académique de Formation (PAF - academic plan for continuing training), which is directly derived from the PNF and they implement as person in charge of the operating budget of the academic programme (BOPA). The Recteur determines priorities according to the "teachers’ training specifications", defined by the ministry of national Education (order of June 15th, 2012).

The Recteur d’Académie, which also is the university chancellor, guarantees the coherence between the initial training plan established by the university, the provisions of which with regard to training placements are subject to an agreement, and the academic training plan, supervising the continuing education of primary and secondary education teachers.

Incentives, supporting measures and funding for Participation in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Activities

Incentives and supporting measures

The voluntary participation by teachers in one or several on-going training activities may be taken into account in their evaluation, which will partly determine their career advancement. 

Moreover, in the framework of the Droit Individuel à la Formation (Individual training right, replaced by the Compte personnel de Formation - Personal Training Account - on January 1, 2017 for State civil servants), the teacher receives an allowance only if the training takes place during holidays. The amount of the allowance is 50% of the teacher’s hourly rate. 

A teacher that follows a training programme that was in the Plan Académique de Formation (see above) and does not use his/her Personal Training Account, does not receive a salary, an allowance or any direct benefits in terms of career progress. However, participating in these training programmes have a positive effect on the teacher’s evaluation. 

Regarding the Congé de Formation Professionnelle (CPF - Professional Training Leave, that targets specifically civil servants), the teacher, as a State civil servant, has a right to enroll in a training programme for one year maximum and will perceive a compensation of 85% of his/her gross salary as well as a residence allowance. For State civil servants, this cannot exceed one year.

Funding

The funding of Plans Académiques de Formation is provided by the Department of National Education, Higher Education and Research in the budget allocation made to académies

For teachers, the training costs are covered by their training account. Travel costs are covered as well.