The French Government has announced a reform of the education system after weeks of student protests against the conditions of secondary education and access to university. Among the main measures is the transformation of Parcoursup in 2027 and its replacement in 2028, in addition to the creation of new university places and an investment plan to improve educational infrastructure.
The proposals were presented this Monday after a meeting between the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, and several student organizations at the Government headquarters in Matignon. The Executive seeks to respond to the main demands of young people, who denounce problems of access to higher education, overcrowded classrooms, and centers with deficient facilities.
Despite valuing the announced measures, student representatives have warned that they are still not enough to end the protests. They demand that promises become real changes and that the Government specifies how and when they will be applied.
Parcoursup, at the center of student protests
One of the main demands of French students is the reform of Parcoursup, the platform used to apply for a place in higher education. The system has received criticism from both students and teachers for its complexity and the workload it generates for teachers.
The Minister of Higher Education, Philippe Baptiste, has announced that the platform will undergo a "significant transformation" in 2027 and will be replaced in 2028. However, he has warned that the reform needs time because some changes depend on modifications to French legislation. "There are several parameters of Parcoursup that can only be modified if the law itself evolves," explained Baptiste.
For his part, the Minister of Education, Édouard Geffray, has defended the Executive's commitment to the announced measures. "None of the decisions we make are empty promises. Everything we say will be fulfilled and respected within specific deadlines and with concrete figures," he assured.
The Parcoursup reform is one of the main demands of the mobilizations, which also call for broader changes in secondary education. Students denounce classroom overcrowding and facility deficiencies, problems that, in their opinion, hinder the development of classes and access to education in good conditions.
France proposes 15,000 university places and 5 billion for renovating centers
In addition to modifying access to university, the French Government has presented other measures to respond to the saturation of the educational system. One of them is the opening of 15,000 new places in higher education, with the aim of expanding the capacity of centers and facilitating student access.
The plan also includes an investment of 5 billion euros to improve educational infrastructures. Of that amount, 1 billion will be allocated to the renovation of universities until 2031, while the rest will be channeled through loans to finance works in high schools. Another proposal is to study the possibility of linking student scholarships to inflation. This measure would allow aid to adapt to price evolution, although the conditions of its application have not yet been specified.
Student organizations have favorably received the announcement of concrete measures, but maintain their reservations until they know the details and verify that the commitments are met. "We are going to go all the way because it is not yet entirely satisfactory," declared Louis Letoublon, vice president of the organization Les Lycéens, after the meeting with Lecornu. Along the same lines, Nathanael Combay, president of the Renouveau Lycéen council, has demanded "concrete results".
Activist and influencer Mathilde Fouqué has also explained to the French media that the Government is evaluating several initiatives to respond to student demands. For now, youth representatives consider that the announcement represents progress, but not a definitive solution. Protests could continue while reforms remain under review and there are no clear guarantees about their implementation. The challenge for the French Executive will be to turn promises into effective changes to respond to student discontent.
