ABSTRACT
Migration had a dramatic impact on the French education system, especially in the early 1970s. The traditionally centralized French system had to face the sudden mass intrusion of non-francophone children in the elementary schools. The response was to create an educational sub-system, which after twenty years of pragmatic response, conforms to the needs of the immigrants' children. The Centres de Formation et d'Information Scolaire pour les Enfants Immigrants (CEFISEM) were created where immigration was most intense. Soon, teachers realized they could not assimilate the non-francophone students without compromising the success of either the immigrant or the French students. In 1970, The Ministry created "initiation classes" for elementary schools by simply ratifying local initiatives. In fact, the CEFISEM have always maintained the common references of official instructions issued for the whole French system. In 1970, they recommended that the initiation classes in elementary schools should adapt the methods of teaching French as a second language to non-francophones.
