In the heart of Paris, and after two weeks of strike, the Turgot institute continues to accumulate garbage cans, billboards, banners and Palestinian flags. The students have been gathered at its doors since early in the morning to block the way inside the center and denounce the precarious situation in which national education in France finds itself.
Among them is Noor, who is about to turn 16 and participates in the blockade of her high school. She explains that she has gone out to protest because she is angry about the situation in French educational centers, but also because of issues that go beyond material conditions. "I am also outraged by the discrimination and the rise of the extreme right."
Noor complains that they do not have books for all the students and studying at the center is very hard because of the weather and the classrooms that are not prepared. "We die of heat in summer, we die of cold in winter and no works are done to solve it," he points out. But the problem that he considers most widespread has to do with the conditions of the centers in the face of climate change. "It is a problem that affects practically all centers in France. With climate warming, the State is not doing works to prepare our institutes for the heat." Even so, he recognizes that the conditions are better than in other centers in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Raphael is 17 years old. He is enrolled in the CNED, the distance learning of the French National Education. When we spoke to him, however, he went to the Turgot Institute, where his best friend, Jade, studies, to participate in the blockade of this high school. "There's nothing wrong with missing a day or two of school if it helps improve conditions for high school students."
Raphaël knows first-hand some of the problems that students report. At his old high school in Dourdan, the toilets, he says, were completely dilapidated: "The doors were torn off, the toilets were broken and we had to urinate in front of everyone." Added to these problems, according to the account, are the current complaints from students about the school cafeteria and the organization of classes. "The students who are there tell me that there are problems with the meals served, that the quantities are ridiculous for the price they pay," explains Raphaël.
But the students' demands go beyond material conditions. The presidential elections in France will take place in May 2027 and polls show Marine Le Pen of the National Rally (RN) as the favorite. Fearing that the extreme right will come to power, many students are also demonstrating against the discrimination suffered by students whose families or themselves are migrants or live in the poorest neighborhoods.
Noor believes that if RN came to power there would be more cuts. "We also mobilize because we are afraid of the rise of the extreme right, which has a very liberal tendency and will surely make cuts in public services and culture," says this young woman.
This student claims that there is discriminatory treatment between students from Paris and those from the periphery. "We see them on social networks, we hear about them. Some even come to see our blockades and are outraged to see the difference in treatment by the Police, which is much more repressive in Seine-Saint-Denis than here."
Although officers have intervened at his center during the blockades, Noor indicates that the intensity of the police response is limited compared to what is happening elsewhere. "The police come a little to prevent us from completely closing the institute, but sometimes they throw tear gas at us. Even so, we suffer much less police violence than there."
