ABSTRACT
The administration of the French education service is centred on Paris and largely controlled from there. Its most important element, from the point of view of teachers, pupils and parents, is the inspectorate. This three-tiered corps is involved not simply in school inspections but in virtually every aspect of the administration of the education service. This chapter deals with all the most important elements within the administration, and concentrates upon the role of the French inspectorate. The organisation and history of the Ministry of Education under the Fifth Republic is complicated and can only be touched upon briefly in a work which aims to cover the whole of the education system. Of the various consultative committees operating at the national level, the Conseil superieur de l'Education nationale is the most important. Apart from the Minister of Education himself who chairs its meetings, the Council has representatives from the private sector, educational administration, including inspectors, parents' associations, various unions and teachers.
