Organisational Aspects

Article L. 912-1-2 of the French Education Code stipulates that from the start of the 2019 school year, ‘continuing education is compulsory for every teacher’. This compulsory training lasts 18 hours a year for primary school teachers, but its duration is not specified for secondary school teachers. When it corresponds to a personal project contributing to the improvement of teaching and approved by the rector, in-service training for teachers is carried out as a priority outside their teaching duties and may give rise to compensation.

From 2019, in support of the first master plan for continuing and lifelong training for all staff of the Ministry of Education, a training policy has been launched to serve the professional development of individuals and groups, to improve the education system in all regions and ensure the success of pupils. Vocational training plays a central role as part of an overall strategy based on support, proximity and personalisation. This involves:

• Facilitating access to ongoing training;
• Enable each employee to play an active role in his or her own career path, in particular by using employee-initiated training schemes;
• Give everyone the opportunity to showcase their skills and, as soon as possible, provide access to diplomas and certifications;
• Support collective projects and local dynamics.

For the period 2022-2025, the master plan for the continuing training of the Ministry's staff is based on 6 priority training areas:

1. Embodying, promoting and transmitting the values of the Republic and the general principles of education;
2. Supporting and training teaching and educational teams in order to improve professional practices and promote academic success for all, as well as lifelong learning;
3. To steer the implementation of youth, commitment, popular education and sports policies at local level;
4. Supporting the professional development of all staff and working groups by transforming HR and training policies;
5. Support supervisors in the exercise of their educational and managerial responsibilities;
6. Consolidate knowledge, skills and uses of digital technology.

These priorities are set out annually in the National Training Plan (PNF) and, at local level, in the Academic Training Programmes (PAF). Each training action corresponds to one or more priorities. The expertise and experience of the inspectorates - General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research, regional inspectorates - trainers and all the staff involved in training engineering contribute to the design and implementation of the training on offer.

Local implementation 

Each academic region creates an academic school for continuing education and develops new training programmes. Under the authority of the rectors, the directors of the new schools, in conjunction with the human resources directors, will set up an academic management system for training initiatives, drawing on the support of all those responsible for and involved in the academy, taking into account the specific characteristics of primary education and, where appropriate, the regional dimension. The aim of the école académique is to make the training on offer more structured, clearer, more coherent and accessible at all levels of the region, for all staff. The PAFs are drawn up on the basis of an analysis of individual and collective requests collected in the academy. The Academic School for Continuing Education also offers a wide range of online services and content, in particular on the m@gistère platform, and provides permanent access to training anywhere in the academy.

The Academic Training Council (CAF) involves, in accordance with the conditions set out in the 2019 circular, the representatives of all staff in the implementation of the academic continuing education strategy, from its development to its assessment. Staff representatives are appointed by the trade union organisations that are members of the academic social administration committee (CSA) on the basis of representativeness. The CAF is in dialogue with the board of the academic school for continuing education.

In support of academic training policies, a number of operators are involved in the continuing education of ministry staff, including:

• the Institut des hautes études de l'éducation et de la formation (IH2EF), as the national operator for the training of managerial staff ;

• the Instituts nationaux supérieurs du professorat et de l'éducation (Inspé), as operators in initial and in-service training;

• the Institut national supérieur de formation et de recherche pour l'éducation des jeunes handicapés et les enseignements adaptés (INSHEA);

• Réseau Canopé as an operator of lifelong training for teachers in a digital environment;

• the network of youth and sports establishments, in particular the Centre de Ressources d'Expertise et de Performance Sportive (Creps) in Poitiers, for statutory vocational training for youth and sports staff, and the Institut National du Sport, de l'Expertise et de la Performance (Insep);

• the École des cadres du sport, which is in the process of being set up, to facilitate the development and provision of training for the staff concerned.

Monitoring and evaluation

The Directorate General for Human Resources and the Directorate General for School Education ensure that all aspects of the implementation of the continuing education master plan are consistent, by providing support and monitoring during annual bilateral meetings with each academy, seminars to share practices, strategic management and performance dialogues, and regular social dialogue.

The master plan and the various measures that embody it in the regions are part of a quality approach, and share the indicators proposed for each of the plan's priority objectives, in order to engage effectively, and beyond measuring trainee satisfaction, in an active approach to evaluating achievements and their impact, and to encourage the ongoing adjustment of the training offer to the needs of the institution and its staff.