FRENCH students may be suffering one of the most stressful weeks of their young lives as they take their high school exams, but at least, they will not be distracted by fighter jets.

France’s cutting-edge Rafale military planes will be flying on adjusted schedules this week in a bid to minimise disruption for students, the commander of a military base told AFP today.

Commander Cedric Gaudilliere said his base, in Mont-de-Marsan in southwest France, has “adapted its take-off and landing procedures” so as to not bother the 3,773 students sitting their exams nearby.

He said the Rafales will take off from the part of the base furthest from residential areas, and carry out slower landings involving less circling over the town.

Other military bases nationwide will follow similar procedures.

France’s high school baccalaureate exams, launched under Napoleon in 1808, kicked off yesterday with the philosophy test, which, this year, included questions such as “Does culture make us more human?”.

Some 750,000 students are taking the week-long exams, most of them aged 17 or 18 – though the youngest candidate this year is just 11, and the oldest 76.

The Rafales are considered the pride of France’s aerial military arsenal, and the country has sold dozens of the jets to India, Egypt and Qatar after struggling to sell them overseas for years.

They have been used by French forces in Afghanistan, Libya, West Africa and, most recently, Syria in April to strike alleged chemical weapons sites. – AFP, June 19, 2018.