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L'Indépendant > Mercanti > Saintonge


by Célestine-Marie Goulouzelle in Saintes
29 September 2023 - 1544h
SAINTES – in the biennial meeting of the National Council for Higher Education (Conseil national de l’enseignement supérieur, CNES), Saintonge adjusted the university quotas to be effective in the school term starting 2024.

National Council for Higher Education
The CNES is a national body composed of government representatives and representatives of tertiary education institutions. With the Ministry of Education as the lead agency, the CNES includes representatives from the Ministries of Labour, Culture & Sport, Commerce, Industry, Agriculture & Food, Defence, Finance, Health, Interior, and Social Welfare. Also included were representatives of the state-owned non-profit Santonian Education Financing Company (Société de financement de l’éducation, SFE), which gives out and administers student loans in Saintonge. All of the Santonian universities and polytechnics are also represented, as are regional groupings of vocational schools.

As a statutory body, the CNES was created by the 1967 Loi Gestat, one of whose aims was to make the Santonian education system responsive to the needs of society and economy.

“Quotas”
Every two years, CNES fulfils this role by reviewing and adjusting the so-called ‘scholarship quotas’ (quotas des bourses). Unlike what the name suggests, these quotas are not exactly limitation of slots for study. Rather, the university quotas are the maximum number of university students that the government will subsidise and/or will be eligible for low-cost student loans. These are usually divided into three classes:

• Class A quotas are completely free tertiary education, paid for by the government or its agencies, with the student required to render public service (retour de service) for a certain length of time after graduation. This is common for courses such as military science or agriculture; and for “Royal Institutions” such as the Royal School of Engineers or the Royal Institute of Aeronautics and Space.
• Class B quotas are partially subsidised tertiary education, partially paid for by the government, with the student financing the rest of the tuition via low-cost student loans from the SFE. This is common for fields that Saintonge deems it urgently needs. While graduates are encouraged to enter public service, they have less restrictions on pursuing private employment or endeavours.
• Class C quotas are granted low-cost SFE student loans for paying the entire tuition; government does not directly finance any part of the education. This is used for fields that Saintonge regularly needs or will be needed in the future. There is no requirement to render public service.
• The so-called “Class X” quotas are neither funded by the government nor eligible for low-cost SFE student loans. Instead, the student may opt to pay for the tuition out-of-pocket or avail of regular-cost student loans, which makes studying under Class X quotas more expensive. The name is a misnomer, as this is not technically a quota, but a term used for the rest of the slots and courses not falling under any of the aforementioned quotas.

The best students will get to qualify for the quota slots. The net effect of the policy is to exert financial incentives for intellectually-capable students to take up fields of study that are needed by the society and the economy. As Education Minister Geneviève-Marie Gestat said in 1967, “We do not want a society in which all people are literature majors; neither does our economy benefit if all workers are marine biologists. The policy is in place to direct students to fields that the society, the economy, and the country need.”

Fields
All fields of study or courses being offered in Saintonge are classified under the quotas. A certain course may be considered within one quota: for instance, all 1,000 slots for International Relations and Diplomacy are under a Class A quota. Almost all of its graduates end up in the Santonian diplomatic corps. Conversely, some fields may be completely excluded: Gender Studies (only offered by the University of Saintes), Fashion Design (only offered by the Universities of Saintes and of Nyon), and Syrixian Literature (only offered by the University of Coire) are not eligible for scholarships and subsidies – the so-called “Class X” quotas. Interestingly, Theology is also a “Class X” quota: those studying for the priesthood theoretically pay full tuition, but the Santonian National Church operates the seminaries and pays for the education. This is an example of the employer completely subsidizing the education of its future employees.

Most courses, though, fall within multiple quotas: Agronomy, for instance, has 2,202 Class A slots, 3,107 Class B slots, and 4,821 Class C slots. Having ‘quotas’ does not mean that Santonian tertiary institutions can only offer a total of 11,130 slots for Agronomy; in fact, there are more than 16,000 places for Agronomy in Santonian tertiary institutions. This means that the remaining 5,000 places will neither be subsidised nor be eligible for low-cost student loans (but can be availed by paying normal tuition or via regular-cost student loans).

Changes
CNES added a total of 10,231 Class A slots, 33,289 Class B slots, and 68,280 Class C slots for the term starting 2024. Still, despite the expansion, many fields of study sustained cuts in their quotas.

Many humanities courses suffered a reduction of quotas, a continuation of the trend from the previous review in 2021. For the first time, Santonian Literature ceased to have a Class A quota, now only having 2,889 Class B and 5,292 Class C slots. Anthropology lost its Class B slots, having lost its Class A slots in 2021. Fine Arts became a “Class X” quota for the first time. Other fields sustaining cuts included Theatre Studies, History, Business Administration, Tourism Management, Mass Communication, Linguistics, Political Science, Sociology, Archaeology, Behavioural Science, Environmental Studies, Library Science, and various area studies such as Gothis Studies and Craviterian Studies.

There are some humanities fields that benefited, though: Psychology and Education saw big increases, largely because the Santonian government projects a need for teachers and psychologists for the increasing number of schoolchildren. The influx of Predicean children escaping the war exposed the Santonian education system’s lack of redundancy: the number of educators in Saintonge are just enough for local students, but could not cope with a sudden increase in students. Because Saintonge will need more Social Workers throughout the country, the quota for Social Work also increased massively: its Class A quotas were doubled, and its Class B quotas increased by 87%.

Sciences
Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses benefitted greatly from the increase, with dozens of courses doubling their quotas. Most were concerned with technology, computer science, hard sciences, and healthcare. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence increased their quotas more than threefold: Robotics now has 803 Class A slots, 2,288 Class B slots, and 4,020 Class C slots. Artificial Intelligence now has 367 Class A slots, 1,094 Class B slots, and 2,667 Class C slots. This coincides with the planned opening of Artificial Intelligence courses at the Universities of Alexandria, of Nyon, and of Plaisance in the next two terms. Currently, the course is only offered by the University of Saintes and the Ducal University of the Pouilles. Meanwhile, Computer Science itself increased its quota by 33%.

Hard and esoteric sciences also benefitted. Physics and Astronomy doubled their quota, while Materials Science, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology increased by more than 25%. For the graduate courses, intersectional studies received a boost. Fields such as Astrophysics, Quantum Physics, Astrochemistry, Mathematical Chemistry, Nanochemistry, and Medical Physics were granted Class A slots for the first time.

Not all hard sciences were beneficiaries. Geography, Palaeontology, Meteorology, Geology, and Biology all had their quotas reduced.

Many engineering courses only had slight increases, except for Aerospace Engineering, which had seen an addition of 37 Class A slots, doubling its number.

Healthcare
Slots for healthcare-related professions were also expanded greatly. Bourses for Medicine increased to a total of 9,470 slots: 2,886 Class A slots, 3,201 Class B slots, and 3,383 Class C slots. Nursing also increased by 70%. Almost all other healthcare-related professions expanded: Pharmacy, Public Health, Nutrition, Medical Technology, Radiologic Technology, Occupational Health, Physical Therapy, Dentistry, Speech Pathology, and Physical Therapy. Orthotics-Prosthetics and Respiratory Therapy were also granted Class A quotas for the first time. Optometry failed to gain Class A slots but its Class B slots increased by 10%.

CNES again refused applications for bourses for the study of Chiropractic Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, deeming them as ‘pseudoscientific fields’. These two courses are not offered by any public university in Saintonge; only two small private tertiary institutions (in Saintes and in Bâle) offer them. Chiropractic Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, however, can still be taken under the Class X quota. On the other hand, Homeopathic Medicine is proscribed in Saintonge – it does not even fall within a Class X quota: this course cannot be taken and paid for through regular SFE student loans.

Meanwhile, due to the boom in pet ownership and demands of Santonian agriculture, slots for Veterinary Medicine also increased by 80%.

Partial Opening to Non-Santonians
The CNES also introduced a rule opening Class A quotas to non-Santonians. Previously, foreigners resident in Saintonge can only apply to Class C quotas, but the current rule allows them to apply for Class A quotas (but not Class B). Non-resident foreigners may also apply to Class A quotas (but not Class B or C quotas). The Class A quotas for a particular field will only be opened to foreigners if the slots are unfilled.

Only Class A quotas were opened because Class A quotas have a mandatory return of service (retour de service). Thus, Saintonge would provide a scholarship to non-citizens; in return, these non-citizens are required to serve in public service or work in Saintonge. In effect, Saintonge is trying to recruit the best minds globally for the Santonian government and/or the Santonian economy.

This is also because some of the quotas were left unfilled in the past years. For example, the Class A Nursing slots were only 87% filled in the 2021-2022 term and never reached 90% filled during the past ten years. Opening the slots would enable Saintonge to meet the projected need for nurses by recruiting from abroad at the earliest stage of their career building. It is likely that Nursing, Medical Technology, Radiologic Technology, Dentistry, and Nutrition will have to open its newly-increased Class A slots to foreigners starting the 2024 term. This initiative is different from the E-CURIE Programme.

E-Curie Programme
Because it is authorised by a different legislation (1951 Loi des échanges éducatifs or 1951 Loi Landry), the number of scholarships under the E-Curie Programme remain unchanged. Unlike the Class A quotas, students studying under the E-Curie Programme are actually encouraged to return to their countries of origin. Also, a substantial portion of living expenses are paid for by the E-Curie Programme; whereas applying for the Class A slots as a foreigner will only pay for the tuition and not the living expenses.

This will lead to Saintonge potentially welcoming a record number of foreign students in 2024-2025 term.

Technical and Vocational Schools
Courses offered by Technical and Vocational Schools, as diverse such as plumbing and carpentry to air traffic control and stenography, will still mostly fall under the Class C quota. Their (much-cheaper) tuition depends on the local government unit operating the school. Many offer discounts to their constituents; this makes studying technical or vocational courses either very inexpensive or completely free.

Access
Information about the slots available and the application process to these bourses can be accessed via this webpage from the CNES. The E-Curie Programme can be found in though this link.

translated by Kyle MacTaggart-de Flesselles
2 October 2023 - 0933h