What happened
After more than a month of protests by French pupils and students, the government has presented several investments in schools. The higher education admissions system, Parcoursup, will be redesigned so that, starting in 2028, institutions will no longer see the name of the applicant's high school. Previously, students from schools in poor suburbs and rural areas were often passed over in the selection process despite good grades. The government also promises to cap class sizes at a maximum of 28 students in disadvantaged areas starting next year and to hire 500 more teachers instead of planned cuts. In addition, state loans worth billions are promised to the regions to renovate dilapidated school buildings and universities up to 2030.
Our analysis
In France, the authorities are now forced to acknowledge what young people in the country's suburbs have known for years. The school's postal code has mattered more than the knowledge in their heads. When the admissions system allows higher education institutions to see the school's address, it acts as a digital sieve that shuts out students from minority and working-class backgrounds.
This is an important lesson for Sweden as well. Here, school failures are often blamed on students' and parents' willingness to integrate, while growing school segregation and the market school's pursuit of profit remain untouched. The French decision shows that discrimination does not lie in students' ambitions, but in the design of the systems.
The success also demonstrates what actually works against cuts and structural barriers. No leaders back down from polite round-table conversations. Change happens when young people organize, take to the streets, and refuse to let their future be determined by where they happen to live.
Explained
Parcoursup is France's national digital platform where high school students apply and are admitted to higher education at universities and colleges.