Cynthia Grégoire

The education budget is expected to grow by a little over €800 million in the 2027 fiscal year, not enough to compensate for inflation. In fact, next year's budget, introduced on October 1, is slated to see permanent teacher rolls decline by 1,500 posts. A similar squeeze is felt in the university system. A 2024 study from economists Thomas Piketty and Lucas Chancel estimated that in real terms between 2017 and 2023 the annual budget for higher education declined by nearly 15 percent per student enrolled. “The army budget grows year after year, but for education we're trapped in stagnation,” remarked Louis. In its 2027 budget outline, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is seeking €54 billion in savings, although an additional €6 billion has been earmarked for the armed forces.
Another thing that unites just about all high schoolers is a shared frustration with the university selection system instituted at the beginning of Macron's presidency. Known as Parcoursup, the digital platform introduced in 2018 has become infamous for its glitches and malfunctioning. But it is most decried for the idea of education it stands for, divvying up students along rigidly algorithmic lines, often discounting a candidate's preferences about their intellectual and career interests and even geographic location. “You can be sent across the country because a computer told you that's where you'll study,” said Louis, nostalgic for a period when a student could easily enroll in the university of their choosing. In recent days, students at several universities have also joined in the push for occupations.