French youth of immigrant origin find themselves at the heart of protests that have been ongoing for weeks, seeking equal opportunities in education and social mobility, between demanding better schools and confronting rhetoric that raises questions of identity and integration.
For his part, Riad Rani (19 years old), born to a father of Algerian origin and a French mother, stands out among the protest leaders. He heads the "National Union of High School Students in France" and says he has been subjected to racist insults and death threats, particularly from far-right circles.
Education and infrastructure demands
High school and university students are protesting against teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and declining resources. Ben Nasr describes schools in areas with high concentrations of non-French origin residents as the most lacking in material and educational supplies, citing shortages of equipment and staff, poor efficiency of some teachers, frequent absences, and discipline problems.
He links this to the high school dropout rate, citing a figure of 13 percent from the latest comprehensive data from the "National Observatory for Urban Policy" regarding education.
Social and political analyses
Ben Nasr points out that marginalized and poor areas have not witnessed looting and vandalism, according to him. Tunisian academic residing in France, Mohamed Ben Nasr, and political analyst Manar Iskandarani link the participation of immigrants' children to social and educational conditions.
They emphasize that immigrants' children do not form a homogeneous block, and that understanding the protests requires moving beyond reducing them to migration and identity, and instead looking at the demands, circumstances, and position of participants within French society.
Identity debate and elections
Iskandarani adds that political discourse has sometimes entrenched a security or identity-based approach to suburban problems, neglecting the accumulation of social and economic imbalances. He warns against the partisan exploitation of protests, particularly by presenting them as evidence of integration failure or a threat to the republican system.
Iskandarani concludes that the real question is "not why these young people are participating in the protests, but why some feel that the school, which is supposed to ensure equal opportunities, does not grant them the same opportunities as others."
Source: Anadolu Agency
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