To help disadvantaged school students continue in education, Bénédicte Dulaquais, Deputy General Manager of NEOMA Business School’s Operations Department, takes a closer look at the school’s impressive initiative. Here are her words:

Established in 2008, the Cordées de la Réussite aims to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in France, helping them pursue their studies in higher education. The scheme’s name means the “ropes of success” in English, evoking imagery associated with mountain-climbing.

The Cordées links together secondary schools and general, technological, and vocational high schools in communities identified as priorities for educational support (referred to as “roped institutions”) with higher education institutions such as universities and business schools (“rope heads”).

NEOMA Business School engages with the Cordées through student associations on its Reims and Rouen campuses, Prépa’Rémois and Envie d’Sup respectively. Both associations have overseen a significant expansion of operations in the last 17 years.

For the first year of its cooperation with the Cordées, NEOMA was partnered with two high schools and supported 35 students. By 2021, these figures had risen to 18 partnered schools and a yearly intake of 476 disadvantaged pupils. The young people are tutored by 196 NEOMA students across both campuses.

Mentoring takes place on NEOMA’s campuses, where tutees can benefit from staff’s expertise, especially the Talent and Career teams. Young people participate in workshops in small groups. They also have access to regular cultural outings to theatres, cinemas, operas, conferences, and special workshops led by professionals.

NEOMA is responsible for fundraising, managing its relations with roped institutions and funding partners, and delivering high quality mentorship. Tutoring focuses on three objectives: cultural openness, development of skills and behaviours, and openness to the job market. To date, more than 3,700 French students have benefitted from NEOMA’s collaboration with the Cordées.

“I was tutored in Cordées de la Réussite workshops in my first year at high school. That same year, Prépa’Rémois organised a trip to London, then another one in my final year to Amsterdam. I met some wonderful people who I am still in contact with today,” says Fiona Leclerc, a former tutee who recently qualified as a teacher.

“I didn’t necessarily plan on going to university. Participating in those workshops pushed me to take the plunge, so I undertook a degree in human sciences. I have just started my career as a teacher in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, where I plan to pass on to my pupils what the Cordées taught me: equal opportunities no matter where you come from.”

NEOMA offers 10 workshops and four trips each year, all of which are run by students from the student associations Prépa’Rémois and Envie d’Sup. Activities aim to support the learning of young people from their fourth year in secondary school through to higher education.

“A trip to Brittany for a few days provided our final year pupils with additional cultural knowledge, in particular with a visit to the Caen Memorial about World War 2 and the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, which was very useful for their final exam at the end of high school,” says Hana Mahamoud, Vice President of Envie d’Sup for the 2021-2022 academic year.

As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all ships. The Cordées was founded on the belief that students should not have their potential limited due to self-censorship or lack of access to learning resources. But the opportunity to provide support and tuition has also been incredibly beneficial for NEOMA students.

“Through their engagement with young people, helping them to access their dreams of reaching higher education and professional opportunities, NEOMA students demonstrate a strong commitment to the values at the heart of our school: openness, innovation, respect, and excellence,” says Delphine Manceau, the Dean of NEOMA Business School.

Through offering mentorship, NEOMA students develop their leadership skills. Many progress through the ranks of their respective student associations, taking on more senior roles and gaining experience dealing with communication, marketing, project and event management tasks.

Romane Allain, President of Prépa’Rémois (2021-2022), initially joined as a tutor before switching to work for the travel section and then taking on an executive role.

“Seeing that our trips, outings, and workshops have a concrete impact on the young people we mentor is very enriching. It is a way of acting locally for equal opportunities, while establishing a relationship of trust with them,” she says.

The success of individual ropes like Prépa’Rémois and Envie d’Sup has allowed the Cordéesto to scale up its operations over the last academic year. From 2021-2022, 200,000 pupils in France benefitted from the opportunities provided to roped institutions. The year before, this figure was closer to 80,000.

Activities offered as part of the Cordées were deeply affected by the onset of the Covid pandemic. However, NEOMA students were able to adapt and move learning experiences online, earning praise from partner institutions for their dedication to continuing delivery of high-quality mentorship to tutees. From innovations such as this, further growth is expected in the Cordées network in the near future.

Now that the pandemic is over, face-to-face meetings and trips have resumed. NEOMA students and staff learned much from the crisis, adapting the content in some of their workshops to have a stronger focus on developing emotional intelligence and stress management tactics. This continued evolution will no doubt remain a key part of NEOMA’s involvement with the Cordées in their continuing cooperation.

See more articles from BlueSky Education.