The Guardian
· collected 2026-10-10 · by Angelique Chrisafis in Sevran
On a normal school day, Mohammed, 17, wakes at 6am, cares for his younger siblings to help his single mother who works as a security guard, then takes two crowded buses and a local train to get to his high school in Sevran, a low-income banlieue town in the suburbs north-east of Paris.
asserted
who → wake → Paris
“There aren’t enough chairs or desks to go round, so some students have to stand up,” Mohammed said.
asserted
Mohammed → be → ?
“Classes can be so packed you can’t interact with the teacher.
asserted
you → interact → teacher
In this year’s heatwaves, it felt like 40 degrees in overcrowded classrooms with no shade or curtains.
asserted
it → feel → shade
It was so hot my brain couldn’t function.”
asserted
brain → function → ?
The 17-year-old in his last year of high school wants to study management and digital communication at a Paris university.
asserted
old → want → university
But he said conditions were so poor, he felt all odds were stacked against him and his classmates.
asserted
odds → say → him
“Some of us have to go months without teachers when absent staff aren’t replaced,” he said.
asserted
he → have → teachers
“One class had no French teacher for several months just before the French baccalaureate, so they couldn’t even study all the set texts for their exam.
asserted
they → have → exam
Recently we needed a teacher for a subject taught through English, but when that teacher arrived they didn’t speak English.
asserted
they → need → English
The biggest youth protest movement in the country in decades brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets across France this week demonstrating against inequality in the French education system, decrepit schools, a lack of teachers and large class sizes.
asserted
movement → bring → teachers
Hundreds of schools were blockaded, thousands of teenagers were arrested, and rights groups warned of alleged police brutality, with one child losing the use of eye and another losing a hand.
asserted
another → blockade → hand
Mohammed and his classmates, often supported by their parents and teachers, have been at the frontline, barricading their school, the Lycée Blaise-Cendrars, which is in one of mainland France’s poorest départements, Seine-Saint-Denis.
asserted
which → support → départements
They have voted to continue their protests next week, taking their grievances to the local mayor, elected officials and education representatives.
asserted
They → vote → mayor
Many local politicians have supported their demands.
asserted
politicians → support → demands
Even the French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, conceded that teenagers had “legitimate” concerns.
asserted
teenagers → concede → concerns
Photos on the Sevran students’ phones showed broken classroom chairs, holes in walls, holes in ceilings, mould, buckets to catch leaks, faulty lights.
asserted
Photos → show → leaks
They said basic needs weren’t met, with some toilets broken, others with no doors and often no toilet paper or soap.
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others → say → doors
Video projectors and science equipment were lacking.
asserted
projectors → lack → ?
“We’re not asking for luxury, just the basics to learn in decent conditions,” Mohammed said.
asserted
Mohammed → ask → conditions
“And yet police on horseback charged us when we were gathered to protest outside our school, firing teargas at us and making arrests.
asserted
we → charge → arrests
It’s so dangerous to be charged by a horse, it could kill you.
uncertain
it → ’ → you
I just ran, I was trying to help my classmates.”
asserted
I → run → classmates
The high schools of Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburban area nudging against northern Paris, have been a driving force in the protests.
asserted
schools → nudge → protests
The area has the youngest population in mainland France, one of the highest birthrates and the among the lowest average income.
asserted
area → have → income
Local high schools have a high turnover of young teachers.
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schools → have → teachers
Despite co-hosting the 2024 Paris Olympics, and numerous government plans to try to combat long-running problems of inequality and poverty, the area north-east of Paris is still disadvantaged compared with the capital.
asserted
area → co → capital
In 2005, Seine-Saint-Denis was the starting point for weeks of unrest on housing estates across France, leading to a state of national emergency being declared, after the death of two young boys hiding from police in an electricity substation.
asserted
state → start → substation
This week’s protests have shown that inequality and discrimination has not been addressed in the Paris suburbs and the mistrust between young people and police persists.
asserted
mistrust → show → people
In 2024, students and teachers made a viral video about the state of classrooms, toilets and equipment.
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students → make → classrooms
The local Île de France region said it had put in place a major refurbishment project for high school buildings.
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it → say → buildings
But the teenagers said key issues had not been addressed.
asserted
issues → say → ?
“We’re starting at an unfair advantage because our parents aren’t as rich as others, they can’t buy us books, they can’t take us to films,” said Ilian, 17, whose family has Moroccan roots and whose father is a traffic warden.
asserted
father → start → roots
“We’re missing school during these protests, we risk falling behind in an exam year, we’re desperate to get back into class to study, but the conditions we’re facing are so bad we can’t stop until the government promises action.”
asserted
government → miss → action
The education ministry this week promised 3,000 teachers to urgently fill gaps, but teachers’ unions expressed doubts and said longer-term plans and more funding was needed, even if the government argues there is little spare cash.
asserted
government → promise → doubts
Ilian has been waiting to see a child psychiatrist for months.
asserted
Ilian → wait → months
At the high school, there was no school nurse and a lack of support staff for children with disabilities, he said.
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he → be → disabilities
“The police look down on us as if we’re animals”, Ilian said.
asserted
Ilian → look → us
“They talk to us with such cruelty.”
asserted
They → talk → cruelty
He told local politicians that some teenagers alleged police had made racial insults against them during protests.
asserted
police → tell → protests
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
