Les facultés en grèves
France is well-known for it’s strikes. I think most people have heard that if you go to France for a trip and aren’t troubled by the train workers on strike, the airline workers on strike or any of the other public employees on strike, then you’ve had a great trip!
What many people many not know about is that students go on strike as well. Not just short protests in the street to show their dislike for a law that was passed, but 5-10-90 days out of class, with or without the support of the school administration.
Much of this is on a national level and is organized through the student unions. Student interest areas, like manual labor areas here, have organized unions with a structural hierarchy similar to something like our Student Senate. (Some of the well-known unions: UNEF, UNI, FAGE, CÉ.) Allignment is fairly complicated, but to simplify, students from different faculté or school generally align with one union because of that union’s beliefs (but such is not always the case). So the faculté d’art has a union that students are a part of, the faculté de droit has a union, and of course, the faculté de lettres has a union. This fac de lettres is the most well-known for going on strike, it is the part of campus that contains the humanities students that are known for speaking their minds. These localized unions on each campus talk to unions on other campuses and will work together to stage a coordinated effort if a law is passed that affects higher education. For example, in 2007, a law was proposed to reform higher education on the national level. This video reviews what happened at Rennes-II, a university in Rennes, France in the Bretagne region in the Northwest:
It must be said that sometimes the laws are repealed (striking is successful) and sometimes the laws go forward. In my discussions with students when I was in France and on strike for 8 weeks, I talked with some students who felt very strongly about the subject and why they were striking and they work they were doing instead of schoolwork-these were true activists. I also talked with students who were just glad they weren’t in school-they were just hanging out, shopping, playing outside, or working to earn money for summer vacations. Many of my French friends in the fac de droit wanted to go back to class and were working hard to learn the material that should be covered in the time missed.
Sometimes certain schools go further than others with their striking. A recent article from Le Monde brought this to light along with the affect that all this striking and missed classroom time can have on student enrollment. You can check it out here: Les facs mobilisees voient leur image se degrader (don’t forget Drake students, if Le Monde rolls this to their pay only archives, you have access to it through the Cowles Library databases!) As you can see, this particular school, Rennes-II has lost over 5,000 students in the past 4 years and the authors are blaming this mostly on the rise of student striking, especially long strikes.
French students generally attend whichever university is closest to their home and the particular reputation of that school does not matter much-they do not have the extensive search that American students do (we must also say that they pay less than 500Euros per year all expenses included because most live at home and we pay between $20,000 and $40,000 per year). Some parents in the article say they would hesitate about sending their student to the fac de lettres at Rennes-II because they would not spend enough time in the classroom. This might become a problem in the future; will French students put more effort into their college search based on who strikes and who does not?
As our world becomes more globalized, competitive education programs are especially important in determining success in a global job market. The fear of some parents and students that not enough time is being spent in the classroom, is definitely a founded one.
However, it isn’t just French students well known for striking! French farmers in particular are known for their extravagant protests (sometimes including letting cows loose in Paris and allowing tractors to block the roads.) These trends define and underlying feature of French democracy in general. The voice of the people is still incredibly strong and demonstration, taking to the streets, is still effective in propagating political change!
In today’s economy, in roder to get a good job, one must receive a good education. The competition for getting a job is fierce. In America, speaking out against something you don’t liek is common, seen as a democratic way of speaking. In France, in a sense, it seems evident that they want to acheive this democratic trait. The concern of getting the best education, in hopes of acheiving the best future, has been a problem in the United States as well as in France.
IN America, choosing a university is much more selective and exclusive. In France, it seems that the students see it as something that they attend, but don’t stress as much about as Americans do. With the recent concern in schooling, the stress of choosing schools may change in France.
I do believe that students in France will start having to be more selective with their school choice, especially when strikes start interfering with the quality of education that they receive. By attending schools such as Rennes-II students may risk future opportunities. While in France the reputation of a school may not matter as much as location relative to their home, it does play a large role in determining future prospective jobs. Employers may hesitate when selecting a candidate for a position when they attended a school where the importance of a strike surpassed the time dedicated to receiving an education. Also, with the plethora of applications small factors such as these may have a large impact on the success of the student. The strikes, while they may be beneficial in the future, actually can hurt current students when not solved in a timely manner.
I was lucky when I was in France. I didn’t witness any strikes anywhere. It was close though! Right before we went, there were strikes in Paris, and again a few weeks after we left. I agree with the above statements that students may have to start being more selective in their school of choice if they want to have better prospects for jobs. Especially if the strikes going on at their school are causing them to miss so much school. I can’t imagine missing that much school and still getting the same level of education that I am getting.
I think that student strikes are very interesting and I am also very jealous, I wish students across America could be that organized to protest laws that affect our lives. When we discussed this in class Adrien said that when they strike no matter the number of days they are missing they don’t have to make them up at the end of the year, which means they are getting credit for hours they didn’t complete, also not fair! But the passion that some of the students have, not in just one schools but in many, to make a difference in their life is impressive and I think it is something that should be translated in American culture. Students here need to become more passionate about the here and now and what affects us, not in the future.
I think that in terms of the current economic crunch, French students are going to begin to regret all the time they spent on strike when they should have been in class. Education is what will get you a job and support your future. Not actually learning the material but still receiving the credit and eventually the degree is completely counterproductive to a healthy, balanced work situation. If you have the credentials but don’t have the knowledge to back it up, even if you get a job, you either won’t last long or you won’t enjoy doing it because you won’t actually know what it is you’re supposed to be doing.
I agree with several of the previous statements, in that I think French student will start to be more selective when choosing a university. However, I don’t think all students will. I think it will be those that are serious about getting a solid education and serious about being able to provide for their future. Here I would like to add that I disagree with Alexandra when she says students need to be more passionate about the here and now, not the future. While I agree that passion now is a good thing, you need to think about what you are passionate about and figure out some way to constructively incorporate that passion into your future.
I was shocked when I first learned of French students going on strike. Though I was aware the French are known for striking (friends have advised me not to fly AirFrance), I did not realize students could strike too. I can’t imagine missing all that school because I disagreed with a law. It’s interesting that French students have formal student unions to organize strikes and that students are so involved in the political process. I think many American students are just as involved and passionate about politics; we just express our discontent differently. For example, American students might write a petition or attend a rally when they disagree with policy-makers rather than go on strike for days.
Clearly, striking is an important part of France’s political and social democratic culture. However, parents’ and students’ concern at some universities over the time actually spent in the classroom due to excessive striking is a legitimate one. French students are used to choosing universities based on location, but I believe with time they may become more selective in their school choice and the amount of time students spend learning will definitely play a role. Quality of education will take precedence over school location as students find themselves entering an increasingly competitive job market in an increasingly globalized world.
I found this article extremely interesting and shocking. It is very enlightening to me. The passion French students is very eye opening compared to the apathy you find in most United States students. I think it is very important for students to get their say in what is going on in the government, but I do feel that if they spend most of their time striking it might deter from their overall education. I understand that it is a way to show your displeasure with the government but their are times when you have to stand back and look and the long term affects of your actions.
I agree with the other posters in the conclusion that French students will being to look more closely at schools and be more selective about where they chose to get an education. I also found it quite amazing that they only pay about 500euros per year for their schooling. That sounds like a wonderful system that I wish the United States has. When the French leave the university they are most likely not going to be in much debt unlike the average student in the United States who will be thousands of dollars in debt at the end of their schooling.
It is very interesting to see how every country deals with a need for change. France is very vocal about it. I think it is really cool that the students are so involved in the process. Unlike in the US where many students don’t even know how the whole system works. However, it really doesn’t make sense for a student to still receive credit if they missed a 1/3 of the semester and never learned the material. If the striking students can strike and learn the information then they should still be able to receive credit. It will just be problem in the long run if many students hold titles and degrees that they don’t really deserve.