The attempt to immolate a student's fire in Lyon highlights the student precariousness

It is a drama that suddenly brings to light student precariousness. Friday, November 8, Anas K., a 22-year-old student at Lyon-II University, tried to end his life by setting himself on fire in Lyon in front of the Crous building (Regional Center for Academic and Academic Works) ). The place was not chosen at random. In a message posted on Facebook a few hours before his suicide attempt, the student says: "I am aiming for a political venue, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and by extension, the government".

"I blame Macron, Hollande, Sarkozy and the EU for killing me, creating uncertainty about the future of all," he adds, pointing out that his monthly grant of € 450 which allowed him to live had been removed because it began a second year of License for the third time. Burned at 90% and taken in charge at the Burn Center of the Édouard-Herriot Hospital in Lyon, according to the Solidaires student union, in which he was active, Anas K. is today between life and death.

Like our comrade, we invite you to testify to student precariousness on # LaPrécaritéTue. pic.twitter.com/iQ5bTASA0a

A native of Saint-Étienne, a student in political science, very involved at Lyon-II University by being elected to the Commission for Formation and University Life (CFVU), according to Libération, the young man lived until the last summer in a student room of Crous in an insanitary building, "with roaches, bed bugs and humidity", according to the testimony of a comrade quoted by Le Parisien.

His relatives say that he did not dwell on his personal difficulties and that he did not tell them of his intentions. "He never complains about his situation, he always expresses himself in a collective perspective, he is someone who thinks a lot about others," insists Nelson, also a member of the Solidaires union, in Le Monde.

"20 % of students live below the poverty line"

Since this "irreparable" act, in the words of the young student, student unions have called for mobilization. Tuesday, November 12, while the hashtag #LaPrecariteTue was swarming on Twitter, several hundred students across France mobilized to show their anger, including Lyon, Lille and Paris. At the University of Lille, a conference of François Hollande was prevented, not without violence, while in Paris, the grid of the Ministry of Higher Education was torn off. And Wednesday, November 13, the campus of Lyon-II University was again blocked, preventing the holding of courses a second day in a row.

In Lyon this morning: 2000 people gathered then in demonstration in the city, 1000 students · in · AG
So many people in such a short time that #LaPrecariteTue
Students are fed up, @VidalFrederique it takes 1 emergency plan to redesign our help! pic.twitter.com/591ofVKXlG

"Today, there are 20% of students living below the poverty line, one student in two who admits skipping meals because it is necessary to make financial choices and a third of students who give up medical care, denounces Orlane François the student union La Fage, contacted by France 24. Student precariousness, it is something concrete that one sees on the ground and which continues to increase.

The Fage and manages on campus university social grocery stores that welcome a public forced to live on a daily budget of between 2 and 7 euros, according to the student union, which denounces the inaction of successive governments for several years.

"The expenses of re-entry increase every year, the expenses of the current life also, in particular the amount of the rents, but the social aids, they, are not at the height", regrets Orlane François, which regrets that the level of the scholarships were frozen for five years, before a 1% increase on the last re-entry.

The Ministry of Higher Education emphasizes that the state spends 5.7 billion euros on social assistance for students, "more than the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and that 40% of students to the university, more than 700 000, receive a scholarship on social criteria, granted because of material difficulties that do not allow to undertake or pursue higher education.

An average student scholarship of 234 euros per month

Once housing benefits deducted, a room returns to a student on average 80 euros per month, a studio equipped with 18 m2, between 150 and 200 euros per month, according to Crous.

"Except that the average amount of scholarships is 234 euros and that it is paid for only 10 months, replica Chloé union Solidaires, contacted by France 24. But we also live the summer. Crous housing can only accommodate 6% of the total student population, so what do we do with others? "

Especially since the 800,000 students benefiting from personalized housing assistance (APL) were directly affected by the 5 euros decrease in this aid decided by Emmanuel Macron in the summer of 2017, then by its deindexation of the index of review of rents. According to Fondation Abbé Pierre, the shortfall was 4.20 euros per month per recipient.

The FAGE reiterates its support for the student who immolated himself in Lyon. Today in France, 20% of young people live below the poverty line. We call on the government @ to act urgently. Youth must be 1 priority. No more young people have to live in this situation. pic.twitter.com/wnKKqt1Zcz

As a result, many students are forced to work to support themselves. According to the latest available figures from the OVE, which dates from 2016, 46% of them had a paid activity during their academic year. Among them, 54.4% say that the remuneration from this activity is essential for them to live, against 51.3% in 2013. And for 56% of these students, their activity exceeds halftime.

But exercising a salaried job has a considerable impact on students' success in their studies. Thus, 17.7% consider that their paid activity has a negative impact on their results and 33.5% find that it is a source of stress and nervous tension, according to OVE data. And according to Jean-François Giret, professor of education sciences at the University of Burgundy, interviewed in September by Le Monde: "It is considered that student work becomes harmful and affects the success of the student beyond the threshold 12 hours a week ".