Strikes sow discord for partials in some universities

• Some universities had to postpone the partials scheduled for December to January due to difficulties in accessing campuses due to the strikes.
• But students believe that all their comrades still cannot make it to the exams, and disrupted the holding of the partials on Monday.
• For student organizations, these troubles could worsen, unless universities find alternatives to partials, such as homework.

Back under tension in several universities this Monday. The disruptions in transport, linked to the mobilization against the pension reform, had led in December several universities to postpone the partials in January, in order to allow students to be able to pass them.

Problem: transportation concerns are still very important this week, especially in Ile-de-France, several metro lines operating only partially and the Transilien and RER lines being very affected by the strike. Suddenly, students blocked the Sorbonne, Michelet, Clignancourt and Malesherbes sites of Paris IV University, to request the postponement of exams after the strikes.

Blockages of Sorbonne-University centers (Sorbonne mother, Malesherbes and Jussieu) @UNEF pic.twitter.com/LUCFyNtePM

A gymnasium open in Nanterre to allow some to sleep on site

Even growls at the University of Nanterre, where students tried to oppose the holding of partials on Monday, even if, in the end, "all the exams have taken place," said the university's management at the AFP. But a general assembly of nearly 300 students voted to block the university from Tuesday. Especially since the students did not really appreciate the proposal of the president of the university to allow certain students, subject to transport problems, to sleep in a gymnasium available to them from this Monday during the exam period .

To meet the university's needs for solidarity needs, I decided to open the gymnasium as of Monday evening, to allow students who wish to sleep there.

At Rennes 2 University, students also prevented certain partials from being held, as confirmed by the university administration at 20 Minutes.

Some universities offer accommodation

And the situation could worsen in the days to come, according to Orlane François, president of Fage: "These blockages could become more widespread in universities which did not know how to find a suitable solution so that all students could go on campus, "she warns. The same goes for Mélanie Luce, president of the UNEF: "Students from Ile-de-France universities come from all over the suburbs and several establishments did not anticipate the difficulties linked to strikes".

In addition to the Nanterre gymnasium, certain universities have nevertheless proposed solutions to facilitate the arrival of students. The president of the Sorbonne-Paris I university, Georges Haddad, who postponed the partials to January 13, for example decided to adapt their schedules "The exams will start at 10 am to allow students to arrive despite the strike transport and exams will end each day around 6:30 p.m. maximum, allowing them to return home in good conditions, "he told BFMTV. Ditto at the University of Evry, where the tests started this Monday at 9 a.m. and their duration was reduced by half an hour. "The content of these exams will be reduced," said the university in a press release, and "absences from the exams will be considered justified", which will not penalize those who have not been able to go there.

Homework, a solution?

But for student organizations, these solutions are not enough. "You must either postpone the partials after the strikes, or consider dematerializing the exams, in order to allow students to take them from a distance," says Orlane François. An opinion shared by Mélanie Luce: “We cannot ask students to sleep in a gymnasium or to get up at 5 am to take their exams. And it would be unfair to put 0 to students without transportation. You have to set up homework, ”she says.

A solution that hardly appeals to universities, fearing that some students will be helped. "To avoid this pitfall, it is enough not to evaluate them on questions of knowledge, but on a duty of reflection or on an educational project", retorts Orlane François. Several petitions launched by student collectives have asked for the same thing. That of the students of Paris I has already collected 7,300 signatures, that of Sorbonne University 3,800, and that of Paris VII 2,800…

Paris

Pass Navigo, opening of lines, mobilization… What is the situation after a month of strike at RATP?

Society

Strikes: No "systematic" postponement of exams planned for next week in universities

• Paris
• Strike
• Exam
• Pension reform
• Rennes
• University
• Higher Education