Annonces de l’AEFE au CA du 27/11/25 – Quel avenir ? – CIPL – Collectif Indépendant des Parents du Lycée

The disengagement of the French State threatens the future of French education abroad and, above all, runs directly counter to the core missions of the AEFE (including the stability of school fees) and to the educational values of France: education is a right, not a privilege; social diversity; equality.
The AEFE’s current model of basing its budget on increases in school fees is no longer sustainable. Yet it appears that the ongoing transfer of operating costs onto families – a process that has been under way for years – is a deliberate political strategy.

For months we have been in discussion with all stakeholders to sound the alarm about the impact of reduced state subsidies, the disproportionate and unbalanced contribution now demanded of families, and the consequences of shifting the employer’s share of civil-service pensions for seconded staff onto the schools’ own budgets.
We have called for the civil-service pensions of state employees to be attached to the budget of the Ministry of Education (via the UNAPE federation, of which the CIPL is a member). At the meeting with the LFCG’s Director of Administrative and Financial Affairs (DAF) on 17 November 2025, we demanded a freeze on school fees for the next two or three years at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle.

Nevertheless, at the AEFE Board of Governors meeting on 27 November 2025, the Director-General for Globalisation, Anne Grillo – who exercises political oversight of the AEFE – set out the main lines of the reform that will be approved at the agency’s next Board meeting on 18 December 2025. These are still unilateral decisions that undermine the long-term viability of our world-class French education system abroad.

2026 Budget: all AEFE-network schools (direct-management schools (EGD), the structure of the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, and partnered/conventionné establishments) will be required to contribute 35% of the employer’s share of civil-service pensions in 2026, rising to 50% in 2027.
Cost-reduction measures at agency level of around €10 million, including the elimination of 10 posts within the AEFE itself.

What does this mean for us as parents?

Every year, at the December Conseil d’Établissement, the school’s DAF presents the initial budget for the following year. This year, as stipulated in AEFE circular 0732, Mme Cellier convened the various stakeholders – representatives of teaching staff, administrative staff, pupils, and parents – for a preparatory meeting on the 2026 budget and the final closure of the 2025 accounts. She informed us that, for the 2026 Initial Budget, there are no figures available yet and everything is on hold. stand by.

However, the following points were mentioned at the Secondary Section Council meeting on 1 December 2025:

the transfer onto the school’s budget of 35% (2026) and then 50% (2027) of the employer’s share of civil-service pensions for seconded staff, following the AEFE Board decision of 27 November 2025;
a 4% salary increase for staff and a 6% increase for overtime hours;
the school’s intention to reduce its expenditure.

We have therefore requested a further preparatory budget meeting in early January 2026, ahead of the extraordinary Conseil d’Établissement in January 2026, so that the 2026 Initial Budget can be properly constructed. We repeat our demand for a freeze on school fees and for a reduction in the Droit de Première Inscription (first-enrolment fee) for families with three or more children.

During the same Secondary Council meeting, Mme Cellier indicated that an increase in school fees – even if only to cover the salary rises – will be considered, although the amount of recoverable VAT should offset part of it. We will work with her to build a budget that avoids any fee increase.

The AEFE network in figures:

AEFE budget executed in 2024: approx. €1.2 billion (€550 million from state subsidies and more than €620 million from school fees, the majority source)
~ 11 000 employees 865m€ payroll
€32 million committed to capital investment
400 000 pupils in 139 countries
3 seats for parent-association federations and 5 seats for staff representatives out of 34 seats at the AEFE Board