- Being a member of the educational community of Mermoz means acknowledging the value of school work as an instrument of personality building. It is thanks to school work that we escape external, social or economic determinisms. It is through work that students not only acquire academic knowledge and skills, but develop the human qualities that prepare them to become full citizens and responsible actors in the world in which they will live as adults. The internal rules are primarily designed to ensure the best working conditions for the students and to encourage them not to forget the core value of work. And, between families and school staff, a permanent dialogue must exist so that a studious climate is the rule, both at school and in external activities linked to school work.
- Being a Mermoz student is to accept free judgment as a core value. Being a good student means having a “well-made mind” as well as a “full head”. To succeed in life, gradual acquisition of autonomy is indispensable, starting with the autonomy of thought. It is the role of the whole educational community to help students gradually develop their critical thinking and their ability to judge rationally.
- Getting trained at Mermoz means seeking a balanced education, aiming to develop in a harmonious and complementary manner the intellectual, emotional and physical components of the personality. It also means desiring to reconcile – another dimension of balance – personal fulfilment and adherence to universal moral principles and willing to promote them.
- Integrating Mermoz is a commitment to respecting others, in respect of their personal, political, religious or cultural beliefs. To guarantee this respect for others in a community as diverse as Mermoz’s, personal beliefs must not be displayed at school, whether orally, in writing, through behaviour or through the wearing of ostentatious distinctive signs. This is the true meaning of secularism, a value inscribed at the heart of the identity of Mission Laique Côte d’Ivoire, which manages the Lycée.
- Mermoz is also a framework for learning mutual aid and solidarity. School work should not lock each student into isolation and competition appetite under the sign of “every man for himself”. The Lycée has set the mission of helping students understand the meaning and pleasure of group life, work and team activities. The Lycée should therefore train them to solidarity and mutual assistance, between students of course, but also between the Lycée and the outside world.
- Finally, receiving education at Mermoz means wanting to be at the same time a citizen of one’s country, who is aware of the global challenges of the present world. In-depth learning of several languages, development of the sense of reflection through a curriculum that takes into account contemporary realities and problems, mastery of the most up-to-date tools and modes of communication should contribute to this. But this citizenship open to the present world can only be built if it is put in perspective: knowledge and respect for legacies and values bequeathed by previous generations must take their rightful place in this process, to the benefit of a culture which, thus guarding itself from the ephemeral and superficial, reaches full authenticity.
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