Changes

[[Image:French people.jpg|left|125px|thumb|Young Sarkozy supporters, the right-wing President]]

[[Image:French people.jpg|left|125px|thumb|Young Sarkozy supporters, the right-wing President]]

===Education===

===Education===

Education is free, beginning at age 3 (sometimes 2), and mandatory between ages 6 and 16. The [[public education]] system is highly centralized. Private education is primarily Roman Catholic.  

Education is free, beginning at age 3 (sometimes 2), and mandatory between ages 6 and 16. The [[public education]] system is highly centralized. Private education is primarily Roman Catholic.

 

Evolution is taught exclusively in state schools and almost exclusively in private schools. Creationism is almost never heard of and is an extremely minority view even among Roman Catholics. Likewise Intelligent Design and anything else that contradicts the atheistic religion of evolution. Teachers can be fired for mentioning alternative origins theories even scientific one like Intelligent Design.

====Higher education====

====Higher education====

Higher education in France began with the founding of the [[University of Paris]] in 1150. It now consists of 91 public universities and 175 professional schools, including the post-graduate Grandes Ecoles. Private, college-level institutions focusing on business and management with curricula structured on the American system of credits and semesters have been growing in recent years.   

Higher education in France began with the founding of the [[University of Paris]] in 1150. It now consists of 91 public universities and 175 professional schools, including the post-graduate Grandes Ecoles. Private, college-level institutions focusing on business and management with curricula structured on the American system of credits and semesters have been growing in recent years.   

France has an elaborately stratified system of higher education; nearly all schools are controlled and funded by the government. There are few private foundations or endowments, but some research money comes from American foundations.  Most scholars and scientists at all levels are civil servants with lifetime tenure. Rigid hierarchies ensure that young researchers pay their dues before moving up the ladder to supervisory roles. Paris decides what areas of research are high priorities, which laboratories will be “centers of excellence,” and how many people will be hired in what fields. It also classifies France’s top educational and research institutions as grands organismes, grands établissements, and grandes écoles, with bureaucratic strictures ensuring that there will be little contact between the different groups.<ref> Fred Schwarz, "The Uncertainty Principle: America dominates science with a classic American formula: freedom,"  ''National Review'',  Dec. 21, 2009 </ref>

France has an elaborately stratified system of higher education; nearly all schools are controlled and funded by the government. There are few private foundations or endowments, but some research money comes from American foundations.  Most scholars and scientists at all levels are civil servants with lifetime tenure. Rigid hierarchies ensure that young researchers pay their dues before moving up the ladder to supervisory roles. Paris decides what areas of research are high priorities, which laboratories will be “centers of excellence,” and how many people will be hired in what fields. It also classifies France’s top educational and research institutions as grands organismes, grands établissements, and grandes écoles, with bureaucratic strictures ensuring that there will be little contact between the different groups.<ref> Fred Schwarz, "The Uncertainty Principle: America dominates science with a classic American formula: freedom,"  ''National Review'',  Dec. 21, 2009 </ref>

===Language===

===Language===

The French language derives from the vernacular Latin spoken by the Romans in [[Gaul]], although it includes some Celtic and Germanic words. Historically, French has been used as the international language of diplomacy and commerce. Today it remains one of six official languages at the [[United Nations]] and has been a unifying factor in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean.

The French language derives from the vernacular Latin spoken by the Romans in [[Gaul]], although it includes some Celtic and Germanic words. Historically, French has been used as the international language of diplomacy and commerce. Today it remains one of six official languages at the [[United Nations]] and has been a unifying factor in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean.