The Pécresse Reforms: A Suitable Case for Strikes?

Whereas in France the month of January was memorable for public strikes in reaction to the current economic decline and corresponding governmental policies, February appears to have been the moment for protests by various facets of society on behalf of the education sector. Responding to reforms proposed by the French Minister of Higher Education and Research, Valérie Pécresse, students and teachers specifically have united across the nation in exceptional solidarity to display their general discontent with the government, producing monumental uprisings throughout February in major cities which include Paris, Nantes, Strasbourg, Marseilles, and Bordeaux. According to French newspaper Le Monde, on the 10th of February between 15,000 and 30,000 people took to the streets in Paris (see right), and on the evening of February 19th an additional 200 students staged a sit-in in an amphitheater of the Sorbonne. At this particular juncture, the youth involved took the opportunity to demand the abrogation of the reforms, and called upon the general population to occupy strategic locales and to block major business roads in protest.

Why, many may ask, is there such public outrage occuring over Pécresse’s plans? Although the issue is certainly complex, the predominant rationale for controversy is that she is calling for the modification of key aspects of the education system’s functionality, specifically altering the realm of the academic research community, the enseignants-checheurs, by pushing to allow university presidents to decide how the academic staff divides their time between research and teaching. There are undoubtedly those who view what the minister is proposing as both a positive and a necessary step in ameliorating the current structure, especially as some of the declared goals of the reforms are to cut costs and grant universities more authority. However, members of the academic community from both ends of the political spectrum fear that the measures included in what has come to be known as the “Pécresse reforms” will defy common principles of collegiality and accord unprecedented power to university presidents. They have therefore taken it upon themselves to raise public awareness of the issue in employing the age-old French tradition of strikes. As a recent BBC discussion board proves, the opinions of French citizens on whether or not strikes are an effective method to achieve political goals have become increasingly divided over the years. Some believe that there is “nothing constructive” about strikes and that they tend to “destroy a little more" each time they occur, but the opposing viewpoint maintains that “the strike, if well organized, will make its point” in a democratic society where the united voice of the people "should count." Perhaps those on each side of the argument would agree that France’s infamous tradition of striking is not always a valid or appropriate means of bringing about necessary change. Nonetheless, in the case of the education reforms proposed by Pécresse, the protests are not only warranted but are also proving to be a most influential medium of democracy.

France is world-renowned for its long history of maintaining a strong commitment to the advancement of national education. The French public university system in particular reiterates the government’s dedication to promote the advancement of all its citizens in an egalitarian fashion, and those who desire to go to university in France are easily able to do so once having passed the notorious end of high-school exam, the baccalauréat (or the “bac” as it is known colloquially). But the Pécresse reforms threaten to destroy this inherent equitable structure so as to improve the international competitiveness of French universities, transforming their core to more closely reflect the Anglo-Saxon paradigm. Already the reforms are projected to increase the selectivity of those accepted to universities and to raise tuition costs, revolutionary challenges to this notion of democratic public education. As writer Geneviève Dupont of the website, In Defense of Marxism, proclaims, a major point of contention which will likely have everlasting negative effects is the attempt to change the highly esteemed teacher-training program, “Certificat d’Aptitude au Professorat de l’Enseignement du Second degré” (CAPES). CAPES was created with the purpose of recruiting school teachers and training them for both the private and public sectors of education, and in addition to greatly reducing the funding for this program, the Pécresse reforms will also shorten the two year program to one year, remove the stipulation for one year’s paid work experience, and force CAPES students to share lectures with masters students of their discipline in order to reduce teaching time. Some project that the change to this particular training mechanism will bring an estimated 900 job losses to the higher education sector, and Dupont upholds the conviction that, “the reforms will turn this carefully controlled system into a free market, with some teachers worse qualified than others and therefore more vulnerable to attacks on their job status by the state.” Certainly this is one of the more radical takes on the situation, but its anxious undertones resonate with many of the French who have accordingly called for action to contest Pécresse’s program.

It is important to note that since February 2nd, many universities have declared themselves to be in an indefinite strike against the government reforms, protesting like Dupont that they will “brutally” end the system that has “always enjoyed independence, liberty, and recognition” for a more financially motivated framework. The widespread displeasure among the nation's academic community, touched upon by a recent article in Le Monde, shows compelling evidence that even the presidents and/or vice-presidents of nine universities (Paris-III Censier, Paris-IV Sorbonne, Paris-VIII Saint-Denis, Paris-X Nanterre, Paris-XIII Villetaneuse, Montpellier-III, Besançon, Rouen et Grenoble-III) are against the reforms. Of the 90 public universities in France the majority have not yet openly encouraged the strikes, but the general lack of negative reaction to the situation strongly suggests that even players in the highest echelon of the university system, who, in terms of power, would have the most to gain from Pécresse's initiatives, support the use of protests to apply the necessary political pressure to prevent these changes from becoming a reality. To be sure, those who are protesting are not doing so solely to make their voices heard; they are campaigning to gain the leverage necessary to ensure an eventual victory and force the reversal of the governmental decree.

An issue that has surpassed political cleavages and united those on all sides, the movement has fostered support from a wide variety of political parties which show a steadfast commitment to maintaining the demonstrations to “save research” (see protestors left on Februrary 5th in Toulouse). While the outcome of this situation is not yet definite, what can be seen thus far is the influence the public can have on governmental policy, particularly when the issue has immense backing and the people effectively use the right to strike to relay their message of social unrest to those in charge. Indeed, President Sarkozy has already responded to the issue, calling for a "rapid exploration of alternative approaches to the university reforms" to appease those combating them. Although it is still unclear whether or not the protests will be successful in completely obliterating the Pécresse reforms, for two reasons I hope that those now agitating do triumph: not only would the citizens of France halt the proposed changes, but they would also validate the national tradition of striking.