French student union rejects €4bn school repair plan

The French student union has rejected the government's €4bn plan to repair school buildings, vowing to keep barricading their schools and continuing street protests. Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens said, “We want measures, not half measures,” after the government announced a package of education measures to address the demands of the largest youth protest movement in years. The protest began more than five weeks ago, on September 1st, when high school students started blocking entrances, demanding an end to teacher and staff shortages and repairs to crumbling school buildings. The education minister, Édouard Geffray, said some schools were so dilapidated they were “not fit” for teaching, and the government announced a loan of €4bn to regional authorities to begin repairs. While the government also announced caps on class sizes for 15-year-olds in the first year of high school and plans to review the university application system, the student union said it was only “not all our demands were met” and that they would “go on for as long as it takes.”

image_prompt

A photorealistic news photo of a school classroom with broken windows, mould on the walls, and a collapsed ceiling, with students standing in protest in the foreground.

French students remain in protest despite €4bn pledge for school repairs. The French student union has rejected the government's €4bn plan to repair school buildings, vowing to keep barricading their schools and continuing street protests. Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens said, “We want measures, not half measures,” after the government announced a package of education measures to address the demands of the largest youth protest movement in years. The protest began more than five weeks ago, on September 1st, when high school students started blocking entrances, demanding an end to teacher and staff shortages and repairs to crumbling school buildings. The education minister, Édouard Geffray, said some schools were so dilapidated they were “not fit” for teaching, and the government announced a loan of €4bn to regional authorities to begin repairs. While the government also announced caps on class sizes for 15-year-olds in the first year of high school and plans to review the university application system, the student union said it was only “not all our demands were met” and that they would “go on for as long as it takes.”