Class Struggle in France against school reform

There has been a big turnout on the streets of France to protest against plans to reform the country’s education system, even though the government has already postponed the changes for a year.

Unions claimed 160,000 students, staff and parents demonstrated, a figure even the education minister said was huge.

One student union leader said: “The postponement was a battle won, but today it’s a war against job losses. The job cuts must be cancelled.”

“We’re not fooled, we won’t let it lie,” said another. “We don’t want reforms based on job-cuts. They must be withdrawn completely.”

The education reforms were put on hold earlier this week. Now, the education minister says they are starting to look at the entire issue once more.

Cities throughout the country saw demonstrations by protestors, some of the ugliest scenes in the second city, Lyon, in the south-east, where dozens of protestors were arrested.

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tags: education, France