The Fillon law of 2005 was a law that was adopted in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in April 2005 which would reform France's education system

Education in France

The French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided into three different stages:* the primary education ;* secondary education ;...

. It is named after François Fillon

François Fillon

François Charles Armand Fillon is the Prime Minister of France. He was appointed to that office by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 17 May 2007. He served initially until 13 November 2010 when he resigned from being prime minister before a planned cabinet reshuffle.On 14 November 2010, Sarkozy...

, the Minister of Education

Minister of National Education (France)

The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...

 at the time.

Aims of the law

• Introduction of a core knowledge for certain subjects. This includes French, mathematics, a foreign language, humanistic and scientific culture, communication and information. This excludes arts subjects from its core knowledge.
• Three hours of support for the teachers
• Abolition of travaux personnels encadrés, guided personal projects combining various subjects, research and free study

Public reaction

The new law was met with significant backlash from students

Student activism

Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. It has often focused on making changes in schools, such as increasing student influence over curriculum or improving educational funding...

. On February 5, 2005, hundreds of thousands of students demonstrated against the law by refusing to go to school or by marching. Notable players in the protests were Samuel Morville and Pauline Salingue, who were to be arrested.