> That's not how France works ;-) Schools don't decide much, everything is decided by the central government in Paris and then implemented everywhere.

Citation needed - that's not the case.

Schools are ran in a collegial manner (PTA + Teachers + Admin - I sit in my son's school board) What's imposed is pedagogical content (over a teaching cycle - three years long - kids should have learned this and that.) Then how it's done is really not the state's business. Schools implement it the way they want.