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Enhancing the French app for special needs education banner

Supporting reforms to improve the quality of education and training systems and ensure equal access to it

Funding Programme
Year
  • 2022

Enhancing the French app for special needs education

The European Commission supported the project’s overall objective to reduce certain educational inequalities in France via the improvement of the French digital app on special educational needs. The support to the Ministry will contribute to the deployment of this pilot tool, in order to encourage its full appropriation by school teachers and other players, and also to evaluate the users' feedback and allow its improvement.

Context 

In France, the 2019 Law for a School of Trust (Loi pour une Ecole de la Confiance) had made a strong commitment for an inclusive school that, among others, has led to the creation of a digital application for inclusive education, the Livret de Parcours Inclusif (LPI). It is in line with broader budget priorities for France to tackle educational inequalities in line with the EU priorities of a European Education Area. Firstly tested in a few regional “academies” and rolled out on the whole territory as of February 2022, the LPI needs further enhancement for making the specific support provided to pupils with special educational needs more effective. Various categories of professionals in France support these children, bearing a risk of isolation and discontinuous approach during their school life.

Support delivered 

In 2021, the French Ministry of National Education and Youth asked for support through the Technical Support Instrument (TSI). In December 2022, the project was successfully kicked-off in Paris, in cooperation with the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (EASNIE), as implementing partner. The project aims to facilitate the complete implementation of this digital application throughout the national territory; to increase its acceptance among professionals and enlarge its use without stigmatising children; to assess and monitor how it operates and identify ways to improve its functioning.

Results achieved 

The maximum target population could represent about 1.8 million pupils (15%). The application will be used to share specific support measures between various professionals (heads of schools, teachers, medical staff, social workers, etc.) as users, as well as with the vulnerable learners and their families, as end beneficiaries. In gathering updated information in a digital report with due respect to data protection, the tool should contribute to break institutional silos and ensure a more customised and consistent support to each child in the classroom. In the long run, it should contribute to improving the inclusiveness and performance of the French school education system.

More about the project