ARTE Europe Weekly: France’s School Protests – An Education System Under Strain?

Hundreds of thousands have demonstrated across France for better schools, revealing deep concerns among young people about their education system and their future.Nationwide demonstrations, sit-ins and outbreaks of violence have filled social media feeds and television screens in France over the past four weeks. At the heart of the movement are high school students calling for better funding to tackle teacher shortages, reduce class sizes and improve learning conditions. With similar concerns gaining ground elsewhere in Europe, as a generation grows increasingly anxious about its future, what do the figures reveal about France’s education system compared with its European neighbours – and what do they leave out?This programme is produced by the European platform ARTE and available in 10 languages through the European media partnership BEAM. The hub is coordinated by ARTE and includes Balkan Insight (BIRN), Sinopsis (BIRN Romania), El País (ES), Gazeta Wyborcza (PL), Internazionale (IT), Ir (LV), Kathimerini (GR), Le Soir (BE) and Telex (HU). The partnership receives EU-funding following DG CNECT’s call for European Media Hubs within the framework of the EU’s Multimedia Actions.