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The literary and humanities ''classe préparatoire aux grandes écoles (CPGE) or "classe prépa"'' is a two-year-long program after secondary school graduation, ''baccalauréat''. Its mission is to prepare undergraduate students for the competitive entrance examination to the three Écoles normales supérieures (ENS), but also to the École nationale des chartes, to business schools or to "Instituts d'études politiques". ''Khâgne'' ((:ˈkaɲ)〔http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/kh%C3%A2gne〕) informally refers to the literary and humanity CPGE. But more precisely, the term refers to the second year of the program, also known as "Première Supérieure", while the first year is known as "Lettres Supérieures" or "hypokhâgne" (from Greek ''hypo'', "under"). == History == Until 1890, secondary school graduates prepared for the entrance examination to the ENS by repeating their ''classe de rhétorique'' which corresponds to the final year of secondary education. Teachers would give them more difficult assignments than to high school juniors. Lycée Louis-le-Grand created a special class in order to gather those "veterans": the ''Première supérieure'' class, also called rhétorique supérieure, or rhétosup. Lycée Henri-IV then introduced the ''Lettres supérieures'' (or ''Lettres sup'') year between the final year and the ''Première supérieure'' year. Regarded as a two-year extension of high school studies, ''Lettres supérieures'' and ''Première supérieure'' was meant to prepare students to the ENS. This system became standard by the 1930s. As the coursework is intensive, with around 35 hours of classwork per week and a good deal of work on top of that, it can be very stressful for students. The examinations are difficult and competitive and it is common for students either to repeat the second year of classes or to fail altogether, in which case they usually obtain a ''Licence'' or other qualification. The grading system (0 to 20) reflects the general philosophy of the ''khâgnes'': underscoring the failings of the students rather than their strengths. Consequently, most grades hover between 4 and 11, the latter grade being an excellent grade. This grading system is quite demotivating for students but is part and parcel of the intellectual "boot camp" mentality of the "classes prépas" educational system. The classes involve elements of literature (modern and classical), history, philosophy, geography, languages and linguistics-–-a comprehensive humanities-based education-–-but students will normally specialise in one or two subjects. Critics claim that a disproportionate amount of resources is devoted to ''khâgne'' students as against the c. 40% of Baccalauréat students who attend a standard university (''faculté''). They therefore see it as a feature of the elitism of the French higher education system, especially since the majority of successful candidates originate from successful middle-class families. Defenders see it as demonstrating an emphasis on quality. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Khâgne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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