Every year, around forty students are selected to spend a week at the prestigious École Polytechnique, south of Paris. Before entering their final year of high school, these high school students take advantage of their summer vacation to participate in the X science camps, a 100% free summer school in favor of equal opportunities.
We support profiles, scholarship holders and young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods, who have a strong appetite for scientific subjects, in order to encourage them to pursue studies of excellence in these fields,” explains Capucine Pêtre-Spassky, director of environmental and societal transformation at X and the Institut polytechnique (IP) Paris.
For almost 10 years, between 400 and 700 young people apply online to this program each year. The school selects several dozen students according to the level of their scholarship, their academic results, their motivation and the recommendations of their teachers. Once selected, the high school student does not have to pay anything: housing, food and even transportation to the Saclay plateau are taken care of by the school and its foundation.
“Causing the trigger”
On site, a full program awaits them: revisions with National Education teachers, tutoring by engineering students, immersion in the school’s ecosystem, orientation workshops and even time dedicated to self-confidence… Thanks to these 7 days, the school wants “to trigger a reaction in these young people who, too often, censor themselves, continues Capucine Pêtre-Spassky. Through this program, we want to contribute to the national effort aimed at giving everyone the best possible chance of accessing courses of excellence, in our establishment or elsewhere.”
Over the last three editions of the X science camps, 80% of high school students then joined a so-called “excellence” scientific course, a preparatory class for the grandes écoles, a degree leading to engineering schools or a scientific bachelor’s degree.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
