École nationale des ponts et chaussées is involved in several forms of societal engagement. In 2009, for example, it initiated a tutorship program called the “Expérience Ouverture” with several local schools. In addition, every year it takes part in the national Cordées de la Réussite initiative as head of the Gershwin rope with Académie de Créteil. Every year, the students run the programme to support high school and college students on their path to higher education.
Ecole nationale des ponts et chaussées, in partnership with the Dévelop'Ponts student association, initiated a tutorship program called “Expérience Ouverture”. The nature of this partnership has been established since January 2012 through an agreement between the School and the association.
The program include 2 types of action
- Tutorship takes place in groups managed by student volunteers from the School. The program includes: various trips and fun workshops mainly in the Paris region, on 10 Wednesdays in the school year, from 3:15 pm to 6:30-7 pm Every year, almost 60 high school students from Champs-sur-Marne and Noisiel take part.
- Academic support classes and orientation sessions are given by volunteer first-year student engineers from the School, to more than 80 high school students from Champs-sur-Marne, Noisiel and Noisy-le-Grand every Thursday evening from 6 pm to 8 pm on our premises, between October and end of May.
“Expérience Ouverture” is aimed at high-school (collège and lycée) students from disadvantaged backgrounds, to encourage them to develop their curiosity and awareness of science and technology.
The idea is to overcome cultural and psychological barriers to higher education. They are selected on 3 specific criteria: motivation, social background, gender mix.
Since 2008, Cordée Gerschwin has continued to grow.
It began with 16 high school students from 2 schools in Val Maubuée (Luzard College in Noisiel and Armand Lanoux in Champs-sur-Marne) and 8 student engineers.
Today, Cordée Gershwin concerns 8 high schools, supporting 200 high school pupils from 8 schools in the area.
Every year, one topic is chosen as a framework for activities activities:
The different educational activities, a combination of visits, practical experiments, theoretical explanations, feedback sessions, are run by the tutors with the help of the referring teachers from the partner schools. At the end of the year, a feedback session on School premises brings together high-school and lycée students, school directors, involved teachers, parents, and figures from the academic and political worlds. At these events, it is the school and lycée pupils themselves who present the experiments and visits and describe their experience.
Elisabeth Beyls
Head of Equality, Diversity and Student Life
Johanna Coindre
Assistant to the Department of Education