France’s prime minister, in a TV address to the nation on Wednesday evening, said that the anger of French students who have been holding mass protests ‘does not come from nowhere’, and promised action on key points by the end of October.
Sébastien Lecornu said that “no-one can remain indifferent” to the anxieties of the young protesters, and laid out areas for improvement in the education system.
He said that an online consultation platform for students to express their demands had already received 40,000 submissions “particularly regarding the organisation of the school day.”
He laid out the main priority areas as: “Ensuring classes are held when a teacher is absent, improving physical conditions in school buildings, making Parcoursup [the platform that assigns university places to lycée students] more understandable, and providing high school students with a clearer framework for expressing themselves.”
He added that government proposals on these areas would be presented “by the end of October”.
Students at French lycées (high schools) have been staging protests and blockades over the last week, calling for more teachers and resources for schools and complaining of crumbling and badly maintained buildings.
READ ALSO: Analysis: Are French lycées really all that bad?
On Tuesday 250,000 people took to the streets in towns and cities across France to call for better funding of the education system.
Listen to the team at The Local discuss the student protests in a special episode of the Talking France podcast
Lecornu added that the education budget would get an extra €1.2 billion for 2027, saying that: “We have a month to translate the demands of the lycée students into budget proposals”, before parliamentary budget debates begin in November.
Responding to criticism of the policing of the protests, he said: “Law enforcement officers have not been instructed to confront high school students.”
He criticised the violence of some protesters, and the politicians who he said were encouraging it, adding: “We cannot play with the safety of France’s youth.”
Student union leaders had already announced another day of blockades on Thursday, and have called for a meeting with the prime minister to discuss concrete proposals.
READ ALSO: What to expect from French student protests and strikes on Thursday
In the same speech, Lecornu also spoke of France’s worsening budget problems as he faces the daunting task of trying to steer the 2027 budget through the deadlocked parliament.
