Pupils, parents and teachers at Rosa-Parks high school told Franceinfo about staffing gaps, long timetables and deteriorating buildings. They later joined a march in Paris.
About 50 pupils gathered outside Rosa-Parks high school in Saint-Denis on the morning of Oct. 6 to prepare for a nationwide demonstration. Education staff and union activists were with them; later, the group travelled to Paris. Franceinfo’s report described the gathering as one place where students’ demands were discussed alongside parents and teachers.
Students spoke about teacher shortages and what they saw as inequality between suburban schools and those in Paris. Tim, 15, told the broadcaster that his economics and social sciences class went without a teacher for two weeks at the start of the school year, and that he spent much of the previous year without a Spanish teacher. Anna and Jihane, both 17, described long school days, gaps between lessons and canceled cultural outings.
Pupils linked these problems to a lack of resources and the condition of school buildings. Natacha, a final-year student, said she wanted the chance to study in decent conditions. Tania, a parent, backed the demands and said young people wanted to learn. Teachers who came to support the pupils said funding and teaching conditions were concerns shared by students and staff.
Louise Paternoster, a representative of the CGT Éduc’action union in Seine-Saint-Denis, described damaged school buildings, including leaks, cracks and faulty shutters. She called for more money for repairs and permanent staff. These were her observations as reported by Franceinfo.
Demonstrations in previous days had been accompanied by clashes and detentions. Some students interviewed by Franceinfo said they were worried about travelling to the Paris protest; others decided to take part. Teachers nearby said they wanted to support pupils and prevent reports of disorder from eclipsing the reasons behind the mobilization.
Later in the day, the group from Saint-Denis headed for Place de la République. In Paris, pupils from other districts joined them, along with university students, parents and education workers. Some university students said the schoolchildren’s demands touched on wider problems facing public education.
The report shows how the nationwide mobilization is rooted in local complaints: absent teachers, demanding timetables, deteriorating buildings and unequal access to opportunities. These accounts are participants’ testimony rather than national statistics, but help explain why students and their families took to the streets.