LOn October 28, 2016, the French Embassy in China held the 3rd edition of the Seminar of Pilot Departments for the French Language (SPLF) in Shanghai. The aim of this seminar is to show appreciation for the 7 pilot departments for the French language financed by the National Education, Higher Education and Research Ministry (MENESR), which are hosted by 7 secondary schools in China. Today there are 11 professors of humanities and mathematics whom the MENESR sent to these 7 pilot departments in China. This seminar reviewed the situation of the SPLF operations as well as the outlook and stakes of these pilot departments as part of the mobility of Chinese students in France. The theme selected this year for the 3rd edition of this event concerned the orientation of students coming from the pilot departments. This event brought together representatives from MENESR, the French Embassy in China, Chinese education commissions, establishments that host the pilot departments, language department directors in Chinese secondary schools, and representatives from French higher education.

This event was held at the GuangMing school, an ESIGELEC partner school in which the ESIGELEC class was created in 2012 and became the Class of Joint Adaptation in Shanghai.
It’s in this context that Etienne Craye, Dean of ESIGELEC presented the organisation, the specifics, and the finality of the challenges for the Class of Joint Adaption in Shanghai. Today is one of a kind and offers guidance in French-Chinese academic cooperation. It also has the privilege of having two humanities and mathematics professor sent from the MENESR as part of the pilot department programme, which was created in the GuangMing school this year.

This Class of Joint Adaption in Shanghai is supported today by a consortium of French higher education institutions managed by ESIGELEC, hosting the EIGSI La Rochelle, NEOMA BS, ECAM Lyon, and offering Chinese students from this Class at the GuangMing school different opportunities for entering a Grande Ecole school in France.

Etienne Craye, Dean of ESIGELEC, Cyril Marteaux, Director of International Relations at ESIGELEC, and Liu Ying, ESIGELEC representative in China, were also able to attend the 130-year anniversary ceremonies for the GuangMing school in Shanghai during their trip. It was an opportunity to revisit the strong ties that exist between this school and France and, in particular, between this school and ESIGELEC!
Given the success that the Class of Joint Adaptation in Shanghai saw, ESIGELEC and more generally, the consortium of institutions opened a new Class of Joint Adaptation in 2016 in the foreign language secondary school in Hangzhou and they already have other projects that are undergoing preparation…

Contact: Cyril Marteaux, Director of International Relations, cyril.marteaux@esigelec.fr