France Takes the Plunge into Globalized Education

By Julie Chazyn

Published: February 12, 2007 in the International Herald Tribune

This article is about changes in the French education system to make it more accessible and attractive to foreign students in order to give all students a more globalized education. This is a big step for French universities, which used to see international students as novelties, because they are beginning to see them as necessities for survival in an increasingly competitive world.

“The idea now is not to set a divide between the nationals and the foreigners, but to have a constant mix, all the time, and learn from each other as they (the students) discover different ways of looking at life,” said Jean-Claude Lescure, director of the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris’s journalism school.

France has had a long-standing reputation for isolating itself behind a protective wall of “cultural exceptions.” However, many international students are beginning to come to the country for cultural experience and higher education since the changes in policy.

This article is important because it show that no matter how much a country tries to ignore the globalizing world, it is the future for us all. I think that a diverse education is necessary in the era of globalization because as a worker, one is expected to compete on a global stage. If one’s skills are not up to par, somewhere else in the world, someone else’s are, and now due to globalization, they can do the job from anywhere. This is a major step forward for France, because they have had problems with ethnic clashes recently. This move to have more international students may help alleviate some of this tension.