Students have demanded up to 250,000 extra places in higher education and universities, better conditions in educational institutions, more teachers and a major overhaul of the selection process for university entry.
On Monday, the government told students it would look into reforming France’s university admissions platform, Parcoursup, which student groups consider opaque and a source of inequality, starting in 2028. It also promised more money to renovate schools, an extra 15,000 places in higher education in industry, health and technical education, and a maximum of 28 students per classroom in the first year of high school.
Those measures, widely reported by French media and confirmed by student representatives who attended the meetings, will be detailed at a press conference later this evening.
But university students are not impressed.
“Once again, the government is missing the point. If the government’s strategy is to show contempt for our demands, then we will remain mobilized in the streets and on university campuses, and we won’t back down,” university union UNEF said earlier in the afternoon, when news of the government’s proposals began to circulate.
Student demonstrations and blockades in schools and universities earlier this month were among the first expressions of broader social unrest, which later turned into protests over the cost of living and spiraled into riots two weeks ago.