The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad,[1] (French: Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger; AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France that assures the quality of schools teaching the French national curriculum outside France. The AEFE has 495 schools[2] in its worldwide network, with French as the primary language of instruction in most schools.
The AEFE head office is in the 14th arrondissement of Paris.[3]
Schools are either directly managed (gestion directe), contracted (conventionné) or accredited (homologué).[4] The schools provide an education based on the French national curriculum for pupils of various cultures from preschool through secondary school, and some receive substantial financial support from the French government. The schools provide an education[citation needed] leading to a baccalauréat, and students have access to all other French schools at their own educational level.
In addition, the schools have a curriculum linked to the individual countries in which they are established. The Lycée Français de San Francisco (formerly Lycée Français La Pérouse) and the International School of the Peninsula in San Francisco, for example, include American History and English Literature in its program, and the Lycée Français de Caracas in Venezuela includes History of Venezuela (ICV) from 6th to 9th grade.
Schools are located throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Most of their pupils are children of French expatriates but they also include many regular pupils attracted by the quality of schooling provided.[citation needed] In any given academic year, around 160,000 students study in these schools.
While there are no public guidelines for naming schools in the AEFE network, they tend to have some similarities. A school that follows the French curriculum through secondary school (high school in the United States and sixth form college in Great Britain) is often named a Lycée Français and prepares students for the French baccalauréat. Schools that combine the local and French curricula are often called French-American or Franco-Mexicain schools. Schools that offer the International Baccalaureate are often called International School or Lycée International.
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