The french Grandes Écoles : why should they not be for me ?

In 2002, the ESSEC business school set up a scheme entitled 'A grande école: why is it not for me ?' in order to help local sixth-form school-leavers coming from humble or underprivileged backgrounds to fulfil their ambitions for higher education. Students from ESSEC act as 'big brothers' for 100 hours in their fifth year of secondary school and for 140 hours during the last two years of secondary school. This includes tutorials for 3 hours each week on the ESSEC campus, as well as cultural outings, workshops specialising in oral and written exercises or in the acquisition of social skills, company visits and individual monitoring. The aim is to give the school-leavers the opportunity to succeed which cannot always be provided by their family and social environment. In January 2008, this programme involved 165 students from 8 secondary schools in the area around ESSEC, 48 students from ESSEC, 20 companies and 8 outside speakers. This paved the way for other such initiatives, and about thirty similar projects have since been launched in other Grandes écoles. A report has just been produced assessing the positive results and the possible ways of improving the programme.