ABSTRACT
In the course of its history, France has always welcomed considerable numbers of foreigners. At the beginning of the twentieth century, as a result of the colonial phenomenon, people of remote origin came to France and were employed in low-status jobs. After the First World War, which left an enormous gap in the French workforce, the influx of immigrant workers increased considerably. Young immigrants are distributed throughout the French school system from the age of two and a half in pre-schools and up to the age of 16. A certain number of immigrant children continue their studies beyond the age of 16, some in the classical, modern or technical secondary schools and some in the pre-vocational and vocational streams. The Ministry of Education has recently proposed specialised training for teachers of foreign children. The embassies and consulates have favoured the existence of language courses for foreign students which are given after school hours for many years.
