Students in France have been protesting against the government’s ruling to increase the fees paid by the students studying in the country, especially the overseas and foreign students. In such a case, after the intervention by France’s Constitutional Council, it was made official that primary and secondary education is a basic constitutional right in the country, and so is higher education.
Over a year ago, the French government decided to significantly increase the fees paid by the students. Several student bodies and institutional bodies have protested against the plan since last December. As per the government, students from France and the European Union would pay €2770 per year as compared to €170 which they paid earlier for their undergraduate degrees. For masters, the new fees to be paid started from €3770 which earlier was just €243.
However, students and the universities who were against the change found and exploited the gaping loopholes in the system to prevent their universities from charging such a high amount from the students. As a matter of fact, only 10% of the institutions imposed new rates.
Overseas students win a major breakthrough
The Constitutional Council ruling was certainly in favor of all the students. Although, as per the statement issued by the Council, not everything was clear. The council ruled that a ‘modest’ sum of fees can be taken from the students, considering the financial capacity of the students in the country.
The worrisome question arises that what would be the ‘modest’ amount as per the council. Charging €200 or even €300 can be considered modest but the hike introduced by the government was totally unreasonable and unthought of.
With this, the council also said that the government is not allowed to increase the tuition fees without taking the permission a judge prior to that. This is not a complete victory for the foreign and overseas students but still a major step in the fight against the government.
No one including the students and the complete staff across these universities has supported the decision, a decision which is heavily promoting discrimination against the overseas students.
