Problematic schools in France will be strengthened with three thousand teachers

About three thousand teachers will begin work in French schools in the coming hours, where a “very problematic” situation has developed, the country’s Education Minister Edouard Geffret said amid protests by high school students.

According to him, such educational institutions were identified with the help of a special program that the ministry requested a year ago and applied for the first time at the beginning of the current academic year.

“Thanks to the program that I asked to create a year ago, we were able to identify institutions that, in my opinion, are in a very problematic situation. I would give red status to 114 lyceums, and orange to another 400,” the minister explained on TF1 TV channel.

Geffre also said that he would allow school directors to hire several hundred more teachers there beyond the established limits if there is a need. In addition, schools will be allocated funds ahead of schedule to pay for several hundred thousand hours of additional workload under the Teachers' Pact program. Directors will be able to use volunteer teachers to replace sick or absent colleagues, who will be paid for these hours.

The minister estimated the cost of these measures at several million or even tens of millions of euros by the end of the year.

The decision was made against the backdrop of mass protests by high school students that have been going on in France since mid-September. Students are blocking educational institutions, demanding increased funding for education and improved learning conditions.