France promises to replace its university admissions after riots and thousands of arrests
Officials said the new system will offer clearer selection criteria and explanatory rejection notices as protests widen beyond education.
- On Monday, the French government pledged to replace its national online university admissions platform, Parcoursup, by 2028, seeking to quell student anger after weeks of mass protests over education and living costs.
- Recent nationwide demonstrations saw turnout estimates ranging from more than 400,000 to nearly 800,000 as students criticized the platform for unclear selection criteria, unequal opportunities, and barriers to preferred courses.
- Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste announced "substantial change" for 2027 during a news conference, shortly after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu met with student representatives Monday to discuss their grievances.
- Though two student groups welcomed some concessions, they called for protests to continue; the government had deployed 3,000 additional substitute teachers to struggling high schools on October 8.
- These measures follow France's worst unrest in years on October 17, when demonstrations over school funding descended into rioting and looting, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call for addressing legitimate demands.
152 Articles
152 Articles
French student leaders announced that the government today, in response to weeks of street protests, offered several proposals to improve conditions in the field of education, but they said they would continue with the protests, because the measures offered did not meet their demands.
The measures announced by the government on Monday, 26 October, such as the replacement of Parcoursup by 2028, have not fully convinced the high school organizations. Therefore, they have called for further mobilization in the coming weeks.
Official measures include loans of 4 billion euros to reform secondary schools and set a ceiling of 28 students per classroom. In addition, the State will allocate an additional 1 billion to university infrastructures and index student scholarships to inflation.
As student protests demanding improved educational conditions in France have continued for over a month, the French government announced measures on the 26th (local time) centered on expanding the teaching staff and improving school facilities. According to Bloomberg and other sources, Higher Education and Research Minister Philippe Baptiste stated that the Parcoursup platform, which manages applications and selections for universities and other…
Money for schools, additional teachers and an end to the higher education admission system: France's government is launching an educational reform in the wake of the protests. The movement does not seem to go far enough.
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