From the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, a number of initiatives are put in place to make schools and higher education institutions more accessible to pupils and students with disabilities, and more widely to those with special educational needs.  

The main measures taken are the following:  

1. Creating schooling support centres. 
In order to provide better care for pupils with special educational needs, 100 schooling support centres have been deployed in a number of departments (Aisne, Eure-et-Loir, Côte-d'Or and Var) from the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The role of these centres is to offer immediate and appropriate responses to the difficulties encountered by pupils, providing them with enhanced support in their educational journey. The aim is to guarantee equal access to learning and enable each child to progress according to his or her abilities. 

2. Reinforcing human support.
For the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the Ministry of Education has organised the recruitment of 3,000 new posts for support staff for pupils with disabilities (‘AESH’), bringing the total number of such posts to 88,502. These professionals play a key role in supporting pupils with disabilities during school hours, as well as at lunchtimes. An amendment to their contract can be proposed to guarantee continuity of support during the lunch break. In addition, a plan to enhance the careers of AESHs is currently being drawn up, with the aim of recognising their expertise and offering them concrete career prospects. This is in particular achieved by facilitating their access to the professions of ‘monitor educator’ and ‘specialist educator’. 

3. Accessible rights for students with disabilities.
A major step forward in the field of higher education has been the publication of the circular letter on 10 July 2024. Specifically, this publication covered the rights of students with disabilities or disabling health conditions. This circular sets out the specific rights of students with disabilities throughout their higher education career, as part of their training and student life. It embodies a rights-based approach to disability, in line with the ‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’. For the first time, the circular has been translated into “FALC” (easy to read and understand). The aim of this initiative is to make regulatory texts more accessible, to ensure that all students and their families have clear and easy access to their rights. This FALC translation is part of a wider initiative to simplify and improve access to information for students with special needs. 

For more information: 

• https://www.education.gouv.fr/annee-scolaire-2024-2025-assurer-l-accessibilite-de-l-ecole-pour-tous-414990
• https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/fr/bo/2024/Hebdo28/ESRS2418046C
• https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/fr/droits-des-etudiants-en-situation-de-handicap-le-ministere-traduit-une-circulaire-en-falc-98298
• https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/fr/lancement-de-la-mission-sur-l-intelligence-artificielle-dans-les-pratiques-pedagogiques-98140 
   

Source: Eurydice unit France