France’s Education Ministry has opened a student consultation and announced plans Oct. 8 to direct more than 3,000 substitute teachers to high schools with the greatest need as student blockades spread.
Al Jazeera reported that students began blocking school entrances Sept. 17, with later actions spreading to other cities. The outlet also compared the widening political crisis with France’s 2018 yellow-vest movement.
The ministry cited teacher absences among the problems behind its response. The consultation asks students two broad, open questions. Separately, the ministry has organized its wider work around five areas: missed class time, school facilities, schedules, guidance and students’ role in school decisions.
Students in Créteil initially protested missing teachers and inadequate resources, according to EconoTimes coverage of the school mobilization. Protests later broadened to living costs and public services, as earlier EconoTimes coverage of the demonstrations reported.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez estimated that 550,000 people marched Oct. 17. The CGT labor union put turnout at 800,000.
The ministry’s consultation closes Oct. 23. It expects to publish a national summary and make initial decisions by late October.
