Oct 7, 2026 · 33 min · 13 segments
Welcome to a new episode of Talking France, a special episode it turns out, because we find ourselves in the midst of a new major protest movement in France. This one is being led by high school…
Emma PearsonHostBen McPartlandHost
John LichfieldGuest
Peter GumbelGuestEmma AlbrightHost
So it started at the Lycée Antoine de Saint Ex-Exupéry, uh, named of course, after the, the French pilot and author.
It was over staff shortages, and the pupils staged this blockade in order to support them.
Since then, the government has dispatched extra teaching staff, including a new deputy head teacher and a school nurse.
So things might have ended there, but this problem of a lack of teachers and a lack of other resources is not unique to this high school.
And the following week, uh, students decided to join what was a pre-planned public sector strike, and staged blockades at their, their schools around France.
The, the demands by then, they'd widened slightly, but they were still very education-focused.
They're calling for more teachers, more resources for things like textbooks and teaching aids, and for school maintenance.
A lot of lycées, you know, especially in the poorer areas, they're very run down and decrepit, and the students, you know, they've been talking about crumbling buildings, rats in the classroom, classes that are freezing cold in the winter, stiflingly hot in the summer, that kind of thing.
Um, and also problems with Parcoursup, which is the, the system that students use to apply for university places.
Mm, yeah, we've seen student banners saying, "I see my teachers more than my parents." We've heard them talk about the problem with huge class sizes, sometimes over 35 per class, a lack of tables and chairs and textbooks, like you said, Emma.
So it started at the Lycée Antoine de Saint Ex-Exupéry, uh, named of course, after the, the French pilot and author.
It was over staff shortages, and the pupils staged this blockade in order to support them.
Since then, the government has dispatched extra teaching staff, including a new deputy head teacher and a school nurse.
So things might have ended there, but this problem of a lack of teachers and a lack of other resources is not unique to this high school.
And the following week, uh, students decided to join what was a pre-planned public sector strike, and staged blockades at their, their schools around France.
The, the demands by then, they'd widened slightly, but they were still very education-focused.
They're calling for more teachers, more resources for things like textbooks and teaching aids, and for school maintenance.
A lot of lycées, you know, especially in the poorer areas, they're very run down and decrepit, and the students, you know, they've been talking about crumbling buildings, rats in the classroom, classes that are freezing cold in the winter, stiflingly hot in the summer, that kind of thing.
Um, and also problems with Parcoursup, which is the, the system that students use to apply for university places.
Mm, yeah, we've seen student banners saying, "I see my teachers more than my parents." We've heard them talk about the problem with huge class sizes, sometimes over 35 per class, a lack of tables and chairs and textbooks, like you said, Emma.
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