• France’s school crisis reaches the streets
    Europe

    France’s school crisis reaches the streets

    European Newsdesk Posted on

    French students returned to the streets on October 8 with demands that a country of France’s wealth should be able to meet. They want teachers in their classrooms, buildings in working order and enough space to study. After weeks of protests and school blockades, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has promised answers by the end of the month. The students remain unconvinced.

    The movement began in Créteil, where staff absences disrupted the return to school, and spread to institutions whose pupils have very different prospects. Students from prestigious schools have joined those from disadvantaged suburbs. Their grievances expose an uncomfortable contradiction. France spends more than the OECD average on secondary education, yet that expenditure does not consistently deliver adequate conditions. Increasing the budget may be necessary, but the government also has to explain why existing resources fail to reach classrooms where they are needed.

    This gives the protests a political significance beyond education. A government asking citizens to accept financial restraint needs to demonstrate that it can manage the services they already pay for. Empty teaching posts and deteriorating classrooms weaken that argument. For families dealing with these failures, assurances about national spending offer little comfort.

    Lecornu has limited room to manoeuvre. Pressure on public finances coincides with demands for relief over fuel prices and other household costs. His more conciliatory response to the students acknowledges the seriousness of the dispute, but a consultation followed by proposals at the end of October leaves several weeks in which frustration can grow. Every concession will require funding. Every refusal will require an explanation more convincing than the familiar appeal to budgetary necessity.

    The policing of the demonstrations has made a settlement harder. Officers used tear gas outside the barricaded Hélène Boucher high school in Paris on Thursday. The Interior Ministry has reported more than 6,600 arrests since late September. Lecornu has condemned vandalism and attacks on police, students and staff. Maintaining access to schools and protecting those inside them are legitimate responsibilities. With so many minors involved, the authorities must also account for how force is used.

    The opposition is already positioning itself. Marine Le Pen has emphasised the damage caused by protesters, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon has backed the movement and condemned police brutality. With a presidential election approaching in 2027, both see an opportunity to challenge the government’s authority. Public opinion, however, offers neither side an uncomplicated mandate. An Elabe poll found that 72 per cent regarded the students’ demands as legitimate, while 55 per cent wanted the protests to stop.

    That combination is the government’s best chance of resolving the crisis. People can support better schools while wanting their children back in class. Lecornu needs to give them a credible reason to believe both are possible.

    The next announcement will therefore need names, numbers and deadlines. How many teachers will be available, which buildings will be repaired and who will pay? A return to lessons could end the immediate confrontation. Unless conditions improve, it will also leave the government explaining why another round of protests achieved little beyond another round of promises.

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