France, fifth day of student mobilisation: the government responds with funds and substitute teachers

On Tuesday morning, French students and secondary school pupils resumed blockades in several cities across the country, opening what organisers describe as the fifth act of a mobilisation against the lack of resources in schools. According to initial estimates, at least two hundred schools are expected to remain closed on the day of protest, a lower number than in previous weeks, a sign of a possible decline in participation.

The protest comes after weeks of tension between the education sector and the government over resources allocated to secondary schools. On the eve of the day of mobilisation, President Emmanuel Macron issued an appeal for calm, seeking to defuse on a political level a protest that has been repeating for weeks without a definitive solution.

On the front of concrete measures, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced the deployment of three thousand substitute teachers in schools affected by staff shortages, together with a one billion euro increase in the ministry’s overall budget. This is the most structured response offered so far by the government since the mobilisation began.

The matter has gained international visibility with the participation in Paris of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who joined the marches of French students. Her presence drew media attention to a mobilisation that, until then, had remained largely confined to French domestic news coverage.

The contrast between the scale of the measures announced by the government — three thousand substitute teachers and an additional one billion euros — and the persistence of the protest, albeit in a reduced form compared to previous weeks, suggests that the issue may not be resolved simply by the announcement of new resources. The number of schools blocked, although declining, remains significant for a student mobilisation that has reached its fifth instalment.

It remains to be seen whether Minister Geffray’s announcement will be enough to close this phase of protest or whether the coming weeks will see further days of mobilisation. The figure of two hundred schools involved on this day represents, for now, the most recent available indicator of how the protest is unfolding.

The news currently comes from a single source (Euronews/AFP); no independent confirmation is available.