Since July 23rd, through a ministerial circular, the gap year has become a right for all students, applicable from the start of the 2015 academic year. Thanks to this new system designed to protect the status and rights of the student, all students who wish to take a break (1 year) in their studies will be able to do so without being penalized upon their return because this break year is above all an opportunity and a chance for personal and professional development.
A secure legal framework
While the idea of this beneficial break was already being considered by many students, they often hesitated to take the plunge for financial and administrative reasons (no more status, no more social security, etc.) but also and above all because it struggled to be recognized as a rewarding and continuous experience. It was often up to the students to justify this break or this step back in front of a very suspicious trainer or employer.
What the circular will bring is precisely this reassuring security and a sort of guarantee for students not to deviate from the course they had committed to but on the contrary to integrate it into their professional path and even to value it. This informal knowledge acquired during the gap year (internship abroad, involvement in a humanitarian project, etc.) is already well integrated in certain Nordic countries and even taken into account in obtaining the diploma.
Even if the French mentality is still struggling to accept this alternative route, and it will probably take a few more years to really value it by integrating it into the grading process, the circular should at least allow students to no longer hesitate to try the adventure and to be able to resume their studies without obstacles.
A useful interlude
Called vaguely and almost suspiciously, sabbatical year in our French-speaking countries, this gap year is called a useful interlude by northern countries (translation of gap year) because it effectively represents for the student a real opportunity for personal development, a life experience but also a way to find the path of studies differently. By having been confronted for a year with life directly (without filters or intermediaries), the student becomes a responsible and conscious individual who will self-discipline much more easily and who will progress differently on the path of studies with a professional project that will also be a life path responding to some of his deep and sincere aspirations.
If in France, many business schools have already integrated it into their curriculum, it is above all because it allows students to gain confidence, autonomy, and have a greater capacity to lead.
This gap year is therefore a real opportunity to grow, to broaden one's horizons and to experiment with one's personal skills. This year of hindsight often allows one to gain some in one's professional career and it should really be encouraged as such.
