Visit of Ms Anne-Marie Descôtes to HK
As part of a tour in Asia which will lead to Shanghai and Tokyo, Ms Anne-Marie Descôtes, new director of the Agency for French Schools Abroad (AEFE), was visiting Hong Kong from 12 to 14 February.
Anne-Marie Descôtes is a former student of École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-aux-Roses and École Nationale d’Administration (Saint-Exupéry scholar). A Certified German teacher, she also holds a DEA (post graduate diploma) in German studies and a degree in Art History.
Working first as a teacher in Boulogne-sur-Mer then at Nogent-le-Rotrou, she joined the French Embassy in Bonn in 1987 where she worked until 1990 as the cultural attaché responsible for school and university cooperation. She was accepted at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (as a Saint-Exupéry scholar), she chose to join the Ministry of European Affairs. Initially working in 1994, in the central office of the Ministry (European Cooperation Department), in 1997 she joined the cabinet of the Minister charged with European Affairs as advisor. From 2001-2005, she held the post of advisor responsible for the enlargement negotiations in the permanent representation of France at the European Union in Brussels. In 2005, she became an advisor to the French Embassy in Washington, before taking over the responsibility of heading up the Agency Director for French Schools Abroad (AEFE) in September 2008.
By a decree of the President of the Republic dated the 19th September 2008 (published in the Official Journal on 24th September 2008), Anne-Marie Descôtes, advisor in Foreign Affairs was appointed as the Director for the Agency for French Schools Abroad (AEFE).
Created in 1990, the Agency for French Schools Abroad (AEFE) is a national public body with an administrative role, under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. It manages and directs the largest school education network in the world: 250 schools across 130 countries educating 250 000 pupils, including 100 000 of French nationality. The network has the role to provide a public education service abroad for French children and families living abroad, to contribute to France’s external cultural activities, and to contribute to the promotion of French culture and language through educating foreign pupils. It also participates in cooperative education initiatives by developing close relations with the culture of the host country and its education establishments.
This visit provided an opportunity to meet with the representatives of the Government of Hong Kong, partners in the international high school Victor Segalen, to meet with all representatives of the French and French speaking community interested in high school (associations, Chamber of Commerce, Foreign Trade Advisors, representatives of the school staff but also representatives of parents) and visit current and future areas of the high school.