ABSTRACT
It might perhaps be thought that education is a topic which has little to do with politics, yet it is one which, in recent years, has become the object of an increased political interest in France (as also in Britain). One reason for this is plain enough in economic terms: in a technological society, such as France, it is no longer sufficient for a worker to sell his unskilled labour; if he wishes to command an adequate salary, he requires a technical qualification, which only education can provide. It has been calculated that in October 1981, out of 23,262,701 men and women forming the working population, 5,516,657 had no qualification whatsoever and 5,003,137 had only the certificat d’éducation professionnelle (Collections de l’INSEE, Démographic et Emploi, Enquête sur l’emploi d’octobre 1981, INSEE, June 1982).
