France Fractured, Protests and Politics

Um, I'm gonna ask one more question specifically about, uh, the demonstrations, uh, before we come on to, is this a crisis for the Fifth Republic? Qui- quite simply, why were French schools allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair?

That's a very interesting question, because when you look at, um, state spending on education, uh, France ranks very high in Europe.

There is a big budget, big, um, national budget going into education.

Um, there is a problem with universities.

Uh, there is no such thing as the high tuition fees that we've had in the UK for the past 25 years.

Uh, it costs virtually nothing to s- to do a degree in France, you know, f- with, uh, if you pay, uh, uh, 200 quid, you pay the, uh, registration fees and that's it.

That's, that's all you, you need to pay to, to study.

Um, but the conditions in universities are notoriously pretty basic, bad in some cases.

There's a lack of investment.

But it's not the case for primary and se- secondary education, where lots of moneys has been put.

Uh, so you wonder why France is, is, is ranking so high in, in, uh, in, in Europe when it comes to, uh, public spending and education, and why do you have, uh, those situ- this situation where, uh, yeah, decaying buildings, um, roofs, uh, in schools are falling down on, on, uh, students' heads, uh, schools being infested with rats.

Uh, a very notorious [laughs] issue which seems like completely farcical, but it's important, the lack of toilet paper in the loo.

And I, I remember in my time, a long time, that was already the case.

If you go to a French school, there's never any toilet paper in schools.

You wonder why, but that's, uh, maybe it's part of a tradition.

But the, the conditions are not so good.

Uh, yes.

Uh, it's not the case all over the place.

It's, uh, there are situations where, uh, schools were renovated, including in banlieues.

So again, it would be inaccurate to say, uh, you have, uh, very nice schools in city centers, and in the banlieue it's all absolutely decrepit.

It's not exactly that.

It's a bit of a mishmash, uh, situation.

A, a mishmash of, you know, of good schools, bad schools in, uh, in, in, uh, in small towns, in banlieues.

And probably it's a question, and I'm not an expert on that, it's a question of money is there, but it's, it's not being well spent.

It's going into programs, um, or things which probably do not show in the end, you know, do not really seem to make a difference.

Um, I'm gonna ask one more question specifically about, uh, the demonstrations, uh, before we come on to, is this a crisis for the Fifth Republic? Qui- quite simply, why were French schools allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair?

That's a very interesting question, because when you look at, um, state spending on education, uh, France ranks very high in Europe.

There is a big budget, big, um, national budget going into education.

Um, there is a problem with universities.

Uh, there is no such thing as the high tuition fees that we've had in the UK for the past 25 years.

Uh, it costs virtually nothing to s- to do a degree in France, you know, f- with, uh, if you pay, uh, uh, 200 quid, you pay the, uh, registration fees and that's it.

That's, that's all you, you need to pay to, to study.

Um, but the conditions in universities are notoriously pretty basic, bad in some cases.

There's a lack of investment.

But it's not the case for primary and se- secondary education, where lots of moneys has been put.

Uh, so you wonder why France is, is, is ranking so high in, in, uh, in, in Europe when it comes to, uh, public spending and education, and why do you have, uh, those situ- this situation where, uh, yeah, decaying buildings, um, roofs, uh, in schools are falling down on, on, uh, students' heads, uh, schools being infested with rats.

Uh, a very notorious [laughs] issue which seems like completely farcical, but it's important, the lack of toilet paper in the loo.

And I, I remember in my time, a long time, that was already the case.

If you go to a French school, there's never any toilet paper in schools.

You wonder why, but that's, uh, maybe it's part of a tradition.

But the, the conditions are not so good.

Uh, yes.

Uh, it's not the case all over the place.

It's, uh, there are situations where, uh, schools were renovated, including in banlieues.

So again, it would be inaccurate to say, uh, you have, uh, very nice schools in city centers, and in the banlieue it's all absolutely decrepit.

It's not exactly that.

It's a bit of a mishmash, uh, situation.

A, a mishmash of, you know, of good schools, bad schools in, uh, in, in, uh, in small towns, in banlieues.

And probably it's a question, and I'm not an expert on that, it's a question of money is there, but it's, it's not being well spent.

It's going into programs, um, or things which probably do not show in the end, you know, do not really seem to make a difference.