While the Faidherbe high school in Lille mobilized against a reduction in the allocation allocated by the Hauts-de-France Region, figures show that 75% of public establishments in Nord and Pas-de-Calais are in the same situation. . At the center of the region's calculations: energy costs.
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There were a few dozen teachers, students and pupils from the Faidherbe high school who gathered to demand accountability from the Hauts-de-France region on November 28, 2024. With signs and megaphone in hand, they would like to understand why the region has decided to halve the grant it pays him for the second year in a row.
This cut in budgets threatens the proper functioning of their establishment. Today, the premises are only heated from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., mold adorns their walls, orders for educational materials are canceled and educational outings take a back seat. The school must therefore draw on its reserves.
According to figures communicated by the SNES-FSU union, the case of Faidherbe high school is not isolated. 75% of public high schools in Nord and Pas-de-Calais are bearing the brunt of these cuts in funding. Across the Hauts-de-France region, 197 establishments will see their allocations drop, including 93 by more than 20%.
The Solidaires, FSU and SAF unions have been warning about this situation since October 2024.The Global Operating Grant for public high schools is a relevant example of the importance of public action to ensure equal opportunities in a region with some of the greatest social difficulties.” they pointed out on the fringes of a social mobilization. “If the Region has accompanied the energy crisis over the last three years (…), the current method of calculation, the choices made by the Region generate potential inequalities in treatment.“
The walls of Faidherbe high school covered in mold.
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© France Télévisions
Because what tips the scales in the Region's calculations is indeed the cost of energy. Laurent Rigaud, vice-president in charge of education for Hauts-de-France, believes that when “energy soared, we supported high schools with more than 60 million“.
He adds, “the energy we purchased for 2025 and 2026 is down by 12 million, we simply passed this reduction on to the amount we had this year.“
While the students of Faidherbe high school claim to come to class in coats, Laurent Rigaud tempers, “there has never been a high school that did not start with heating“. Likewise for the issue of educational trips, he believes that the region's endowment “is not primarily used for traveling”, but to pay for energy and maintenance contracts. “We make our budget with the allocated amount“, he concludes. “Our goal is for high schools to run, and run well.”
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