Problems raised by the teaching of probability theory and statistics in French secondary schools

Although probability theory is now considered by mathematicians as belonging entirely to mathematics and although most subjects use it, its teaching in France is discredited in the eyes of most mathematics teachers. It is dealt with separately, if time is left or if it is required for an examination, and it is the first topic to be omitted in any syllabus reduction. The purpose of this report is an attempt to analyse the causes of this phenomenon and to make some propositions to remedy it, taking into account the work of the INRP group which was in operation from 1973 to 1978.