In France, student protests are driven by real concerns but are also a rite of passage

Across France, school students have taken to the streets to protest about teacher shortages, dilapidated school buildings and long school days.

While the tradition of student protest has long roots in France, the country’s current fiscal crisis combined with entrenched structural problems with teacher recruitment, sickness absence and a backlog of school maintenance means this is unlikely to be something the current government can easily address.

Problems – and protests – regarding conditions in French schools go back decades.

I’ve spent 20 years conducting research in France and protest has been a recurring theme. Many research participants I’ve worked with have spoken with fondness about protesting as high school students.

One participant in Nanterre, who went on to become a community activist, repeatedly spoke about how schools in poor Paris suburbs were institutions that would “crush you”. This was due in part to French educational culture, but also because of their under-resourcing and poor state of repair. To them protest felt like an outlet for these grievances.

Another participant described protesting against a lack of teachers in their high school with their classmates in Marseille in the 1980s. They were kettled – held tightly in a group by a circle of police. This was their first real experience of the muscular law enforcement that is often...

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