Students in overcrowded schools are pushing for protests to continue despite longing to return to class, citing unbearable conditions that hinder learning. Daily commutes involve early mornings, crowded transit, and classrooms so packed that some students stand during lessons, while extreme heatwaves worsen the strain. Basic facilities like seating and ventilation are insufficient, leaving students struggling to focus in sweltering, windowless spaces. The situation reflects deeper systemic failures in school infrastructure, forcing students to weigh their desire for education against the impossibility of functioning under current conditions.
Students say they are desperate to get back to class but conditions are so bad that the protests must continueOn 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.“There aren’t enough chairs or desks to go round, so some students have to stand up,” Mohammed said. “Classes can be so packed you can’t interact with the teacher. In this year’s heatwaves, it felt like 40 degrees in overcrowded classrooms with no shade or curtains. It was so hot my brain couldn’t function.” Continue reading...
