Gudeloupe Education

Guadeloupe schools
Figure 1.-- Thise photograph was taken in the French Overseas Department of Guadeloupe (1947). The island was just made an overseas Department a year earlier. The school system thus became the same as in Metropolitan France. This is the CM2 class (5th grade) at the primary school on Terre-de-Haut Island. The pupils are wearing clothing similar to their mates in France, but several of them are barefoot, someting you would not see in France.

Guadeloupe became a French possession (1636). We do not yet have information on early schools in Guadeloupe. Catholic countries like France were slower to found public schools than most Protesrnt coutries. And France was slower still to found school system in their colonies. Cathloic missions fojnded some schools. The French Government abolished slavery (1848). We are not sure when schools were opened to the former slaves. After World war II, Guadeloupe like Martinique became a French Department (1946). As a result the modern education system adopted the French system. Schools are both free and compulsory from age 6 to 16 years. The sclasses are taught in French. There are optional free école maternelle (pre-primary) schools which accept children as early as 2 years of age. Children formally enrol in the system for école primaire (primat ) schools at age 6 years. The primary level has 5 grades or forms. There are two two phases or sections of secondary education. The first phase lasts 4 years and is conducted at middle schools called colléges. (The term college varies substabtially in France over time nd in different countries.) after completing the first stage of secondafry school, further educayion becomes optional. Students are free to write a leaving examination and seek employment. The academically inclined children continue their education and remain in secondary school. These schools are called lycées, another term which has varied over time. This is a 3 year program. These children choose between a general or a technical stream, aagain following the French model. hose students who do well in the lycées can pursue tertiary education, The primary institution is the Université des Antilles et de la Guyane. It has schools of economics, law, natural sciences, social sciences, and medicine. Some students from well-off families pursue their studies in France. There is also the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres which provide a teacher training program. The Institute requires a BA or BS degree for admission. It is a 2-year program including subject specialization and teaching methods.




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