The French government has announced a series of educational reforms after meeting with lycée students leaders, including a reform of the Parcoursup university places system and the recruitment of extra teachers, but students have been urged to continue their protests.
The prime minister and education ministers met leaders of the lycée student protests on Monday, in an effort to address the grievances that have led to widespread students protests since September.
Students at lycée - mostly aged 15 to 18 - have complained of a lack of teachers, crumbling classrooms and a complicated and opaque system of allocating university places.
After the meeting the students, the government announced a series of education reforms.
But union leaders have urged the students to continue their protests - the next planned day of protest in France is Saturday, October 31st although it has not yet been confirmed that students will join the 'yellow vest' protests over the cost of living.
Students may also join demos on Thursday, November 5th, a day of cross-sector strikes.
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Here's what the government announced;
Parcoursup - the system for allocating university places to lycée students, criticised for being overly complicated and opaque, is to be altered and then replaced. By September 2027, it will be reformed with greater clarity about its algorithms, and by 2028 it will be replaced by a new system - subject to a parliamentary debate.
Student grants - the grants given to lycée students from low-income families to aid them with the cost of textbooks and study aids will be indexed to inflation, a measure that will cost the government an additional €100 million.
An extra 15,000 places in vocational training - the students had called for an extra 250,000 places, the government has offered 15,000, mostly in the greater Paris region where the competition is greatest.
The places will be concentrated in the areas of industry, science and healthcare.
Building repairs and maintenance - almost €4 billion will be made available to renovate lycée and collège buildings, do vital repairs and ensure that the facilities are fit for purpose. An extra €1 billion will be made available for universities.
Maximum class sizes - a maximum class size of 28 pupils for the seconde class (pupils aged 16-17) in lycées in disadvantaged areas from 2027 and for all lycées from 2028.
More teachers - in order to achieve the 28-pupil class size, an extra 500 teaching posts will be created within the 2027 budget. The government has also given an undertaking to scrap plans to axe 836 teaching jobs and add an extra 1,200 teaching posts in vocational training.
The 2027 budget will also add an extra 200 posts for school nurses, psychologists and social assistants.
Timetable reform - the school day will also be reformed with a guaranteed lunch break of at least one hour for students.