Priority Education in Geneva with regard to other experiences of neighbouring countries

Abstract

All the countries’ education systems accord a recurring importance to the fight against underperforming at school. Since the 1960s, priority education policies have been developed in the USA or in England. The policies have been continuously evolving. In a first section, we will present the concept of educational priority, its main purposes as well as its ongoing developments. We will then illustrate such policies with meaningful examples in Europe and in Switzerland. The following section will be devoted to the educational priority policy instituted in Geneva: the Réseau d’Enseignement prioritaire, in comparison to other national or international policies. We will also try to highlight which “age” the REP belongs to, and what is the underlying education conception.