State council abolishes compulsory English certificate for students, good news for German speakers

On June 7, 2022, Licensing, DUT and BTS students canceled the requirement to obtain a certificate in English through a State Council Decree. When it was introduced in 2020, the obligation provoked strong reactions in Alsace, where several associations demanded its repeal. Today this order is good news for them.

First A Order of April 3, 2020, Bachelors, BTS or DUT students should get certificate in English language. This obligation is a Decree of the Council of State Dated June 7, 2022.

At the time it was implemented, this obligation provoked strong emotions on the part of partisan associations of German bilingualism. Bernard Stoessel, president of the Elsham association (elected to protect the language of Alsace and the German-speaking Moselle region) appealed the annulment of the ministerial decree before the Council of State in 2020.

“It’s a good thing, but repealing this decree won’t solve everything. I’m against the supremacy of the English language because it endangers the French language,” he said. Bernard Stoessel, president of Elsam, says:

For the German, this decree was also a danger to learning German. “There are 100 million German speakers around Alsace, so we are drawn to this culture. The decree encouraged students to learn English and leave German in school. But if we replace German with English, we lose part of our identity in Alsace”opposes the latter.

But the Council of State revoked the decree for an entirely different reason. The argument being made is not that there is a lack of diversity in the choice of languages ​​for certification.

According to the institution, this would be a mandate against the Education Act. The latter provides that only higher education institutions can award diplomas in France. However, certificates in English (TOEIC, TOEFL) are made by private institutions and not recognized by the government.