France offers €4bn school repair loan as pupil blockades continue
Education minister Édouard Geffray announced a €4bn repair loan, class-size caps, extra posts and a Parcoursup overhaul after weeks of high-school blockades.
The story in focus
France's education minister, Édouard Geffray, announced a package responding to weeks of high-school blockades over teacher shortages and dilapidated buildings: a €4bn loan to regional authorities for repairs, class-size caps, more teaching posts and a Parcoursup review. Student union Les Lycéens said not all demands were met and called for continued mobilisation.
- Geffray announced a €4bn government loan to regional authorities to begin school repairs.
- First-year high-school classes for 15-year-olds will be capped at 28 pupils in the 50% of schools in lowest-income areas, then all high schools next year.
- Parcoursup will be changed in 2027 and replaced by a new system in 2028; parliament debates the issue on Wednesday.
- Higher education minister Philippe Baptiste said 15,000 extra higher-education places would be created, focused on vocational courses.
- Les Lycéens said not all demands were met and called for continued mobilisation.
What the government announced
Education minister Édouard Geffray said some schools were so dilapidated they were not fit for teaching, and announced a government loan of €4bn to regional authorities to begin repairs. He also said class sizes for 15-year-olds in the first year of high school would be capped at 28 in the 50% of schools in the lowest-income areas, rising to all high schools next year, according to The Guardian.
Geffray said more teaching posts would be created and that the French baccalaureate system would be reviewed. The university application platform Parcoursup, described as opaque and unfair, will be changed in 2027 and replaced by a new system in 2028, the government said. Parliament is due to debate the issue on Wednesday.
Higher education and the union response
Higher education minister Philippe Baptiste said 15,000 extra student places would be created in higher education, focusing on vocational courses. He said the government's door was open for more discussions.
The proposals came more than five weeks after high-school blockades began in September. Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens told France Info television the union was at the negotiating table but still in a power struggle, and said it wanted measures rather than half measures. Louis Letoublon, who attended a meeting with prime minister Sébastien Lecornu on behalf of the union, said not all demands were met and that the movement would continue.
What did the French government propose in response to the high-school blockades?
A €4bn loan to regional authorities for school repairs, a cap of 28 pupils in first-year high-school classes, more teaching posts, a baccalaureate review and a Parcoursup overhaul, plus 15,000 extra higher-education places.
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