FT Blog: Student protests rock Paris as 7,000 detained
This blog is based on the article published by the Financial Times on October 9 2026
https://www.ft.com/content/7c0e4294-0b7c-488c-8b76-ab2d411b8f66?syn-25a6b1a6=1
This article is part of the Financial Times free schools access programme. Details/registration here.
This Financial Times article focuses on school student protests in France that have disrupted schooling for many pupils over the last week. The article considers the causes of the protests in terms of the poor conditions in French schools. These poor conditions can partly be attributed to a lack of government funding for schools, driven by France's large government debt.
Questions
a. Outline what you understand by the quote from the article ‘France’s incapacity to reduce its public deficit (government debt).’ [4]
b. Explain why France’s public deficit (government debt) might affect the French government's spending on education. [4]
c. Explain why the violent reaction related to French schools might be a consequence of income inequality in France. [4]
d. Using a PPC diagram, explain how a lack of spending on education in France might affect the country's potential output. [4]
Total [16]