Protests against failing school system continue in France

Rats in the toilets, leaking roofs, broken heating systems: Cellphone videos filmed by French schoolchildren and circulating on social media bear witness to the dilapidated infrastructure in many educational institutions across France.

At the Lycee Paul Eluard in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, a center of the current protests, young people have reported that there are vermin in the building, and say burst pipes are a regular occurrence. In nearby Pantin, pupils complained that windows couldn’t be opened, even when temperatures soared to 40 degrees Celsius (over 104 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer.

Pupils also complain of overcrowded classrooms and frequently cancelled lessons.

The protests, which have erupted all over the country, show no sign of coming to an end. 

Problems of centralization

Yet, by EU standards, France invests a substantial amount in its education system — 6.7% of its GDP. The fact that this investment has not translated into a better learning environment may be partly attributable to the way responsibilities are divided.

The central government in Paris mainly deals with paying teachers, and setting national curricula. But the responsibility for maintaining school buildings lies with France’s various levels of local government. For elementary schools, the administration responsible is the municipality; for “colleges” (lower secondary schools, ages 11–15) it is the wider department, and for lycees (upper secondary schools, ages 15–18) it is the region.

Depending on the region, the local authorities have different financial possibilities at their disposal, and must plan renovation projects themselves. Progress on making improvements is often very slow as a result. In addition, more than two-thirds of their budget is already allocated to staffing costs and pension payments, leaving relatively little room for investment.

Dilapidated infrastructure

Over 80% of elementary school buildings in France are more than 50 years old. An estimated 10 to 20% of all school buildings are considered to be in serious need of renovation. In many instances, politicians have been trying to address the problem. Ile-de-France, which covers Paris and the region surrounding it, approved a 10-year program of renovation and expansion for the period 2017 to 2027 at a cost of €6.6 billion ($7.4 billion).

According to the local authorities, two-thirds of upper secondary pupils now attend a new school, or one that has been renovated. But even after mold has been removed and roofs repaired, it is still rare for buildings to have effective protection against the summer heat. It is also a bitter irony that some buildings newly constructed at considerable expense, or renovated just a few years earlier, have been damaged in the recent protests.

Macron tried in vain to address problem

Imbalances are also evident in ongoing education expenditure. While France invests a comparatively large amount in upper secondary education, according to OECD calculations Paris spends less per primary school pupil than the average for industrialized countries. Education researchers emphasize that it is precisely these early years that lay the foundation for subsequent academic success.

The governments put in place by French President Emmanuel Macron have attempted to address this imbalance. Since 2017, class sizes in the first years of primary school have been halved in socially disadvantaged areas, and around 16,000 additional teaching posts created. 

Amid the ongoing protests, the government has said it now intends to recruit more than 3,000 supply teachers at short notice. French Education Minister Edouard Geffray  announced that software would be used to identify schools that are in a particularly difficult situation.

These announcements are the government’s first concrete response to the demands of the students, who have been demonstrating for almost two weeks now, calling for better facilities in secondary schools, more supply teachers and greater investment in the education system generally.

Increasing deficiencies

The latest scores for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) program for international student assessment (Pisa), which were published in September, illustrate the scale of the problems in the education system. According to the results, more than one in three 15-year-olds in France no longer achieve a basic level of competence in mathematics, for example.

Macron’s reform of the upper secondary education system has also been criticized. The abolition of academic streaming in favor of specialist subjects selected by the individual was meant to give pupils greater freedom of choice. However, the large number of possible subject combinations make it difficult to timetable lessons. Students complain that they have too many free periods and longer school days.

The problems also extend to universities. A lecturer at a Paris university described a seminar attended by 50 students — so many that they have to fetch chairs from other rooms or sit on the floor. So far, she said, the university administration had done nothing about it.

Cancelled lessons

Compared with pupils in other EU countries, French schoolchildren have a high number of teaching hours per school year — on paper, at least. But the French Court of Accounts recorded that 9% of lessons at state colleges were cancelled in the 2023–24 school year. A study from the school year 2024–25 suggests that only around 12% of lessons cancelled at short notice are covered by other teachers.

The relatively low salaries of French teachers compared to those in neighboring countries are also a problem. OECD data shows that after 15 years in the profession teachers at lower secondary schools in France only earn about half as much as their German counterparts.

Broken promises of equality

France takes pride in its republican model of education, which is supposed to provide all children with equal opportunities, irrespective of their background. In reality, academic success in France is much more dependent on parents’ socioeconomic circumstances than in many other countries. This is also apparent in that children from poorer families are far more likely to be affected by the cancellation of lessons.

The government’s financial room for maneuver is currently restricted by the country’s precarious budgetary situation. Although the draft budget for 2027 includes an additional €1.2 billion for the Ministry of Education, there are also plans to cut teaching posts, on the grounds that pupil numbers are falling.

Protests in the run-up to the presidential election

It’s not just videos of dilapidated school buildings that are circulating on social media. As the discontent has spread, there is also footage of demonstrations where people carry placards with political slogans that have little to do with education policy. Some videos show burning barricades and clashes with the police, which faces accusations of usingdisproportionate force.

Some members of the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party have associated themselves with the protesting students. Lawmakers have appeared at school blockades and shared related videos. The government has accused LFI of deliberately exploiting young people’s anger for political purposes, an allegation that the party rejects.

With the French presidential election just six months away, the protests over the crisis in education are evolving into a power struggle. 

This article was originally published in German.