France Moves to Address Teacher Shortages Amid Student Protests
The French government has decided to deploy thousands of additional teachers to schools facing staff shortages in an effort to ease student protests that have seen violent clashes between pupils and police. Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced an emergency action plan to address students’ grievances, with additional teachers to be sent immediately to schools experiencing shortages.
Geffray said new software had helped identify schools struggling with teacher shortages. Around 3,000 supply teachers who are currently not teaching because of inefficiencies in previous deployment procedures will be assigned directly to classrooms. The government will also authorise the recruitment of several hundred additional teachers beyond existing staffing quotas. The emergency measures, expected to cost tens of millions of euros by the end of the year, are intended to ease tensions in schools.
Despite these measures, students have decided to continue their protests after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that a comprehensive package of solutions would not be unveiled until the end of October. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 70,000 demonstrators have taken to the streets across France, while students have boycotted classes. Anger over police violence has intensified after a student lost a hand in an explosion during a police intervention.