French minister Edouard Geffray kicks off the philosophy exam

On Monday, French Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray officially launched the written exams for the baccalauréat by visiting a secondary school in Nogent-sur-Marne.  This event marks a highly anticipated and traditional moment in the French school year: the kickoff of the final terminal exams, traditionally beginning with the high-stakes Philosophy paper.

Around 533,000 final-year students across France sat for the philosophy exam—consisting of 386,312 students in the general track and 146,687 in the technological track.  Geffray has recently made headlines for implementing strict new educational directives aimed at "raising standards." Most notably, he issued a circular changing the evaluation criteria for this year's exams.