French students' strike escalates

French students' strike escalatesBy Sam Stratham FRANCE Following the Chirac government's passage of the education budget on November 9, hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets across France on November 21. Education Minister Beyrou's emergency plan to defuse the ongoing protest against the government's education funding cuts proved to be little more than an act of provocation, redistributing the same reduced level funding between rich and poor universities, and creating only 450 new teaching positions (compared to 1000 last year) and 250 new administrative positions. On November 20, 13 students at Toulouse University called for a November 21 national day of strike action and mobilisation of tertiary and high school students, teaching and administrative staff. The call stated Today all universities lack resources. It is for the right for all to study that we must mobilise ourselves. With over 30 universities and technical colleges in France already on strike, 200,000 students took to the streets including 20,000 in Toulouse, 40,000 in Paris and 15,000 in Aix-en-Provence where the protesters occupied the Town Hall. The united demands of the students included the creation of 6000 new teaching staff, 4000 new administrative staff, 2 billion francs credit immediately, a law guaranteeing the allocation of 10% of the GDP to tertiary education funding (it is currently 5.54%), and a standardised student-teacher ratio of 22.7:1. Illustrating the increasing tendency for issues of education privatisation, inequality and nuclear proliferation to be linked in protest action, students shouted: Chirac you wanted the bomb. Now your going to have a social explosion. Campaign coordinators have called for more actions on November 29 and 30. Beyrou is expected to announce his next emergency plan by the November 24.