Education: we expect so much from it and yet we are forever criticising it. In this book, Brigitte Perucca reviews some major aspects of education that are often under fire: the school system and teachers and administrators, educational content and teaching methods, equal opportunities, professional training, and social environment. Written by a journalist specialising in educational issues, this book offers a complete picture of education in France today and covers such issues as financing and organisation, the rhythm of the school day and of the school year, pedagogy, educational and professional counselling, teacher training, secularism, and opening the classroom to society and the economic world.

The goal of the books in the “Débat public” series is to provide readers with facts, arguments and an awareness of the issues at stake, so that they can engage in informed debate about a variety of major social and economic issues in contemporary France. Other books in the series have covered such topics as taxes, religion and the State, immigration, and France's social model.

Each subject is examined through the prism of a hundred very specific, thematically organised questions dealing with every aspect of a given subject. The information and answers provided are based on up-to-date, in-depth studies.

Brigitte Perucca is the editor-in-chief of Le Monde de l'Education and the co-author (with Emmanuel Davidenkoff) of La République des enseignants (2003).