The Diplomat
Last December 20, the agreement between Spain and France came into force, modifying the dual degree system of Bachillerato (Baccalaureate in Spanish) and Baccalauréat (in French) in order to adapt it to possible crises, such as pandemics.
The agreement on the dual Bachillerato and Baccalauréat degree, popularly known as Bachibac and signed in Paris on January 10, 2008, offers students from both countries the possibility of simultaneously obtaining the Spanish Bachillerato Degree and the French Diplôme du Baccalauréat at the end of their post-compulsory secondary education. This program of excellence can be taken in the schools of both countries where the mixed curriculum is offered and allows students, by virtue of the double degree, to access higher education and professional training and activity in both countries under advantageous conditions.
The program was introduced in the 2010-2011 academic year in both countries. In Spain, it can be taken from any type of Baccalaureate (Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences and Arts) in 120 schools in thirteen autonomous communities (especially, and at a great distance from the rest, in Catalonia), as well as in the Liceo Español Luis Buñuel in Paris. In the French education system, the Bachibac program is currently offered in 92 secondary schools.
On March 15, on the occasion of the XXVI Spanish-French summit held in Montauban, in the southwest of France, the two governments agreed telematically from Madrid and Paris to modify the agreement in order to facilitate the remote approval of the double Bachillerato and Baccalauréat degrees in the event of a crisis -such as the current COVID-19 pandemic- that would prevent the exams from being taken in person.
Specifically, the amendment includes a single article specifying that, “in the event that, in a given school year, a crisis situation in both countries or in only one of them makes it impossible to organize exams according to ordinary procedures (…), the Ministries of Education of Spain and France agree to adopt, on an extraordinary basis, exceptional assessment procedures in their respective education systems.”
“In such a case, the Ministries of Education of Spain and France maintain their commitment to mutual recognition of the assessment procedure adopted and to the reciprocal awarding of diplomas,” it continues. “The derogations decided at the national level will also apply to Spanish and French educational establishments abroad,” it adds. “The temporary derogation from the ordinary evaluation procedures in both countries or in only one of them in the case of a crisis situation justifying it will be communicated by the Parties through diplomatic channels,” it concludes. The agreement, whose provisional application was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) last July 14, entered into force on December 20, as reported in the BOE.
