{{French MPs on Tuesday urged parliament to strike down or heavily amend a bill that would allow universities in France to increase the use of English in classrooms, amid fiery debate over the best way to elevate the country’s standing in international academia.}}
Several intellectuals and the prestigious Académie Française, which is charged with safeguarding the French language, have in recent days called on the government to reject a law that supporters say will help attract more foreign students to French institutions of higher learning.
The bill says some university-level classes in France could be taught in English when they were part of an accord with a foreign or international institution, or if they had financial backing from the European Union.
Daniel Fasquelle, an MP with the main opposition UMP party who opposes the bill, highlighted France’s “waning influence” and told parliament he feared the new law would accelerate “the complete loss of control in certain technical and scientific fields.”
Claude Hagège, a lecturer at the prestigious Collège de France, chastised it as a “self-destructive impulse” and “suicidal project.”
But the bill, authored by Higher Education Minister Geneviève Fioraso, a Socialist, has also found detractors within her own camp.
Socialist MP Pouria Amirshahi is leading a group of around 40 lawmakers who have already declared themselves against the measure.
Its implications and eventual application were the subjects of long debates on Tuesday at the National Assembly, with a vote expected on May 22.
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