French school protests expose deeper crisis in education and youth economics

In late September, students at Saint-Exupéry high school in Creteil, a school of 1,500 pupils without sufficient teachers, nurses or functional facilities, organized a protest that quickly resonated across France and Europe. The demonstration was framed by commentators as juvenile violence, foreign meddling, or a lack of national symbols, but the author contends it reflects a fundamental political-economic lesson about class struggle.

Data from the rector of the University of Patras, Χρήστο Μπούρα, showed hundreds of prospective students abandoning enrollment, especially in demanding fields like medicine and engineering, due to cost pressures. The piece contrasts student housing costs in Greece, Italy and Portugal, illustrating a widening affordability gap. It criticizes government spending that allocates billions to defense equipment while neglecting school nurses, and describes how looted goods were sold in informal street markets, highlighting the tension between market pricing and basic needs. The author calls for massive hiring, subsidized student housing, increased education funding from energy and bank taxes, and smaller class sizes as pathways to social peace.