Deprived of courses in institutions, students are wrung out by endless months of crisis, from which they are fully affected by the many effects.

To allow 2.5 million students in France to keep hope, the government has put forward leads that Manuel Tunon de Lara, president of the Conference of University Presidents, considers insufficient on Europe 1.

INTERVIEW

"Another effort": this is what Emmanuel Macron replied to Heïdi Soupault, a student at the IEP in Strasbourg, who wrote to her that at 19, she "had the impression of being dead" and that she has "no more dreams".

Students are among those who bear the brunt of these lasting restrictions in the face of the coronavirus.

A figure testifies to this growing and increasingly publicized malaise: a third of students have signs of depression, or 800,000 people, recalls Manuel Tunon de Lara, president of the Conference of University Presidents and guest of Europe 1 , Saturday afternoon.

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"I do not believe that the situation will be tenable for long because we must realize that we have been saying 'still an effort' to these students for nearly a year," said Manuel Tunon de Lara.

"Maybe we didn't take the full measure of the distress and what it meant for students."

This is what Heïdi Soupault confides to Europe 1: "We continue to sink into a kind of psychic slump. It's another confinement. It will be very, very hard for many students."

"Save the second semester"

The government announced this week the resumption of tutorials (tutorials) in half-group for the first years.

"It's great for the first years, but there is still a whole section of the students for whom it just doesn't change anything," laments Heïdi Soupault.

"Today, we have to save the second semester. For that, there has to be a recovery. We are very happy that we can start to do it with the first years, but we have to extend it to others. years ", replies Manuel Tunon de Lara.

"The distress is not just the scope of the first year of license."

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I have full confidence in these young people, but we must help them quickly

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On Friday, Manuel Tunon de Lara, also president of the University of Bordeaux, met Jean Castex and the Minister of Higher Education, Frédérique Vidal, to discuss solutions to the current crisis.

Among the avenues launched are the "mental health check" and the doubling of the psychologists mobilized.

"These answers are necessary, but are not sufficient. Today, we have answers on support, on small groups of 10 students, on psychologists, social workers. But the real answer is resumption of classes, "he insists.

"Catch up" until February?

In this context, university presidents propose "that beyond the 50% gauge and TD for the first years, little by little this should be done on all students, even if there is establishment gauges. We are able to organize that. "

But for the moment, the executive has not formulated a response to these proposals.

One thing is certain: "Empathy is no longer enough", warns the president of the Conference of University Presidents.

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The challenge in higher education is therefore to quickly return students to limit the psychological consequences.

Manuel Tunon de Lara considers that the situation is for the moment "recoverable, on the condition of not delaying too much" and to make adjustments thanks to "flexibility over two or three years".

"I have full confidence in this youth," insists the leader.

"But we have to help them soon enough. I think that beyond February, we may be in a situation of no return for some."

This would lead, according to him, to "a sacrificed year".