History Education in France

While the French trace the development of their educational system to Charlemagne, the modern era of French education begins at the end of the 19th century. Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican school (l'école républicaine) by requiring all children under the age of 15—boys and girls—to attend. He also made public instruction free of charge and secular (laïque).