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"coefficients"
plna
Sep 11 03:23
1 mo ago
31 viewers *
French term

direction des examens et concours

French to English Other Education / Pedagogy Côte d' Ivoire high school transcript
Good evening. I'm working on a Côte d'Ivoire high school diploma. This phrase apparently refers to an educational department within the Ministère de L'Education Nationale. It's part of the letterhead, which reads:

MINISTÈRE DE L'EDUCATION NATIONALE
DIRECTION DES EXAMENS ET CONCOURS
RÉPUBLIQUE DE CÔTE D'IVOIRE
UNION - DISCIPLINE - TRAVAIL

Would "Educational and Competitive Examinations Board" work? I'm not sure "Competitive" for "concours" is enough of a modifier to differentiate from "Examens" for "Educational (examinations).

As always, a thousand thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 Public examinations and entrance examinations directorate
5 -2 Department of Education and Competitive Examinations
References
We've had this before

Discussion

Daryo Sep 12:
With all these "already existing answers" and "new references" I still can't see that anyone mentioned the key difference between "un examen" and "un concours" as meant withing the educational system in France (more or less copied in Côte d'Ivoire).

BOTH are a kind of "examination" for students - or would be students. Nothing to do with employment, that would be another kind of "concours".

The difference is that to pass "un exam" you have to get a minimum of points, or a minimum mark. So anyone who manages to get over the threshold will pass the exam. "Le Baccalauréat" is organised on that principle. There is no limitation on the number of candidates who can pass "le Bac".

OTOH hand getting a result that would merit maybe a "special mention" in an "exam" would NOT guarantee that you passed un examination called "un concours" - the admission "par concours" means that only the first 50 or 100 (or whatever is the limit) will be admitted. However good are your marks, if the school is taking 50 new student that year and you're ranked 51 st - you didn't pass "le concours". That type of "admission exam" called "un concours" is practiced by a numbers of educational institutions specific to France "les grandes écoles".
Emmanuella Sep 11:
Competitive examination
https://hr.un.org/page/language-competitive-examination
abe(L)solano Sep 11:
indeed, "concours" = entrée à la fonction publique (applies to Côte d'Ivoire, too):

https://fonctionpublique.gouv.ci/index.php/front-page/naviga...
https://www.fonction-publique.gouv.fr/devenir-agent-public/c...
Tony Keily Sep 11:
You could try... In the EU, these calls for applications are "(open) competitions" (for example: "the number of civil servants appointed from open competitions should increase" - from a European Commission document). So maybe 'Department of Examinations and Open Competitions' or simply 'Department of Examinations and Competitions'.

Proposed translations

-2
1 hr

Department of Education and Competitive Examinations

It's a department in the Ministry of Education, not a separate body "Board".

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Note added at 1 day 9 hrs (2024-09-12 12:39:50 GMT)
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Ladies and Gents, I am very sorry for there was an error in my answer. I have been out of network for a few days now. I actually meant "Department of EducationAL and Competitive Examinations" as Julie rightly observed. Ally apologies.


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Note added at 1 day 9 hrs (2024-09-12 12:52:44 GMT)
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"Department of EducationAL and Competitive Examinations"

Please, is it possible for the moderator to edit the answer for the glossary entry?
Note from asker:
Thank you, @philgoodard. I agree that it should be translated. That's the reason that I decided to re-ask the question. And, I'm also looking at your comment about the proposed translation "Department of Education and Competitive Examinations". I prefer "EducationAL" as a modifier for "Examinations". However, I will be rereading all these comments. Thanks again!
Peer comment(s):
agree liz askew
4 hrs
disagree Emmanuella : Education ne signifie pas Examen
4 hrs
agree abe(L)solano : https://jobs.inrae.fr/en/news/what-does-competitive-examinat...
5 hrs
disagree ph-b : Désolé, mais une « direction » dans une administration centrale (ministère) francophone n'est pas un department, encore moins suivi de of education; c'est une section de celui-ci.
6 hrs
disagree philgoddard : 'Department' would be just about OK, but 'education' is completely wrong.
7 hrs
disagree Annette Fehr : This could be confused with the Ministère de l'éducation, which is entirely something else.
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 days 19 hrs

Public examinations and entrance examinations directorate

Public exams are the nationwide evaluation exams managed by central government or its dependencies in France and former French colonies each year. Those exams are usually taken at the end of primary school, middle school and high school.

In this case, it is the Ministry of Education -a department of central government- that is in charge of public exams in Côte d'Ivoire.

Entrance examinations are required for applicants for the professional schools that train civil servants such as police officers, army officers, customs officers, tax officers, diplomats, magistrates, etc,,,

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 19 hrs (2024-09-14 23:19:55 GMT)
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https://www.education.gouv.fr/le-diplome-national-du-brevet-...

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Note added at 3 days 19 hrs (2024-09-14 23:21:45 GMT)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baccalauréat

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Note added at 3 days 20 hrs (2024-09-14 23:26:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.ena.ci/assets/fichiers/concours/ARRETE D'OU...
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

9 hrs
Reference:

We've had this before

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/education-pedago...

Though I disagree with the chosen answer, which says you should leave it untranslated. Some of the other responses are better.

My own choice would be 'examinations and open competitions directorate'.

Julie: please check the glossary before posting questions. Your other one, about 'coefficients', is also duplicated.
Note from asker:
Thanks, Phil. For ther record, I do check the KudoZ glossary as one of my go-to search options; it's the best in the business, in my opinion. I also check to see if Google can pick my query and list me a Proz.com entry. Unfortunately, I find that there are many times that a Google search does NOT direct me to a Proz.com entry, and that when I ask the question on Proz.com, my colleagues are the ones that direct me towards KudoZ links to such questions. I performed these actions for both of these terms. The KudoZ glossaries have been invaluable to me.
Peer comments on this reference comment:
agree ph-b : 'examinations and open competitions directorate'
6 hrs
Thanks.
Something went wrong...
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