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QUALIFICATION SHOULD FOCUS ON YEAR-ROUND ASSESSMENT AND PRACTICAL SKILLS, SAYS PARLIAMENTARY REPORT THE _BREVET des collèges_ exams taken by every 15-year-old in France are outdated,
unsuitable and should be scrapped, a parliamentary report has urged. The National Assembly's cultural affairs commission said the two days of tests at the end of _collège_ should be
replaced by a qualification achieved entirely through continual, year-round assessment. Doubs MP Jacques Grosperrin, who led the study, said a better "evaluation of pupils' skills
and practical life exercises" was needed - such as marked exercises on writing a covering letter for a job or holding a conversation in English. The _brevet_ is currently based on a mix
of continual assessment during the academic year - including IT and a foreign language - plus the results of end-of-year tests in French, maths and history/geography. "We think it is
necessary to call time on this version of the _brevet_," Mr Grosperrin said. "The context is changing and it is time to update what is taught and make it more lively and
interesting for pupils." Teachers' unions Unsa and Sgen agree that the _brevet_ should focus more on practical skills. However Education Minister Luc Chatel said there was "no
question" of getting rid of the qualification - but did not rule out changing how it was assessed. Last year 82% of pupils passed the _brevet des collèges_, which marks the end of a
pupil's compulsory school career - although many then go on to _lycée_. The April issue of The Connexion includes an article explaining exactly what tests your child has to take during
his or her school life - and the key dates for this year's _brevet_ and _baccalauréat_.