The Local France

Why are teachers across France on strike?

Mon, 12 Nov 2018 14:06:26 +0100

For the first time since 2011 all of France's teachers unions have called on their members to take part in a strike on Monday. So, why exactly are the country's educators so angry?

France to put €1 billion into improving teachers' pay

Tue, 31 May 2016 11:45:34 +0200

The Education Ministry announced on Tuesday that it would be injected €1 billion into teaching over the next three years.

Headteacher who raped pupils kills himself before trial

Tue, 05 Apr 2016 12:15:13 +0200

The ex-school director imprisoned last year for the rapes of dozens of students was found dead in his cell on Tuesday morning, having hanged himself ahead of his trial.

France removes 27 paedophile profs from schools in a year

Wed, 16 Mar 2016 13:34:11 +0100

27 teachers were sacked from France's public schools for paedophilia or child pornography in 2015, French Minister for Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told RTL radio on Wednesday.

Scandal of paedophile teachers shocks France

Wed, 01 Apr 2015 19:25:39 +0200

France’s education minister promised a thorough investigation on Wednesday into "systematic failures” after it emerged that numerous teachers were employed to work in schools despite having previous convictions for paedophilia.

Teacher gets jail term for 'romantic' fling with pupil

Tue, 08 Oct 2013 11:44:00 +0200

An English teacher, 34, from northern France has been given an 18-month suspended sentence and placed on the sex offenders registry, after admitting she had engaged in "sexual acts" with a 14-year-old girl, one of her pupils, with whom she had "fallen in love."

Pupil found hanged after being sent out of class

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 12:21:00 +0200

A schoolteacher went on trial in southern France on Tuesday, charged with manslaughter over an incident where one of her pupils, aged 11, was found hanged in the corridor, after she called him “useless” and sent him out of the classroom.

Teacher slams French education in suicide note

Tue, 03 Sep 2013 17:08:00 +0200

Colleagues and politicians have reacted with shock and sadness after a dedicated school teacher in Marseille killed himself on the eve of the new school year. Pierre Jacque left a suicide note containing fierce criticisms of France’s education system.

French unhappy with quality of education

Mon, 02 Sep 2013 20:00:00 +0200

The majority of French people are unhappy with the education they received, according to a survey published on Monday. The poll found that nearly six out of ten considered teachers in France to be “badly trained”.

Teacher 'forced pupil to put pen caps up his nose'

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 18:53:00 +0200

Another day, another French school teacher in hot water with authorities. This time it's a primary school teacher near Paris who punished a pupil by forcing him to stick pen caps up his nose. She then took a photo and threatened to sent it to his parents.

French teacher shows pupils horror film 'Saw'

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:14:00 +0200

A French teacher has landed himself in hot water after allegedly showing a class of 11-year-olds the notoriously ultraviolent horror movie ‘Saw.’ It’s only the latest instance of outrageous recent behaviour by a French teacher.

Teacher charged for 'romantic' fling with pupil

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0200

An English teacher at a school in the northern city of Lille has admitted to falling in love with one of her pupils, a 14-year-old girl, who was 20 years her junior. The pair have insisted however, their relationship was consensual.

Private Muslim school is France's 'best lycée'

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0100

France’s education ministry published its annual grades for secondary schools, or lycées, on Wednesday, revealing that private, religiously-affiliated schools were among the top performers and that Paris was home to many of the highest ranking institutions.

French summer holidays too long: Minister

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:55:00 +0100

France’s Education Minister Vincent Peillon has once again incurred the wrath of teaching unions, this time by stating his intention to cut the country's sacrosanct school summer holidays to six weeks by 2017.

Fury as French teens get 'suicide note' homework

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:23:00 +0100

The parents of a class of young teenagers in northern France have reacted with shock after their children came home with a disturbing homework assignment. Their French teacher had asked them to write a suicide note.

Top Ten - French teachers behaving badly

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:20:00 +0100

Most of us have one or two horror stories about our school days. A miscarriage of justice here, a gym teacher with a vendetta there. But a pattern of bizarre classroom behaviour has been emerging in France lately, and The Local has been paying attention. Here it is, our Top Ten Teachers Behaving Badly.

Pupils excluded for Facebook teacher abuse

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:58:00 +0100

Five students at a prestigious French school have been excluded after creating fake and insulting Facebook accounts for some of their teachers.

One in six teachers are 'burnt-out': report

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:33:00 +0200

A report published by Le Monde claims that 17 percent, or one in six, of teachers in French high schools are suffering from burn-out, characterized by physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.

Marine Le Pen tries to woo teachers

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:35:02 +0200

Front National leader Marine Le Pen struck a very different tone to her father, the former leader of the far-right party, when she gave a speech aimed at winning over teachers to the party cause.

Schools shut as teachers stage mass walk-out

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:15:00 +0200

Thousands of children will have the day off on Tuesday as teachers across France take strike action to protest against job cuts.