Low mobilization of students in front of the headquarters of the University of Lille.

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M.Libert / 20 Minutes

  • The coronavirus crisis has increased the sense of distress among students.

  • Some psychological support systems exist, except that the figures explode with 37% of those over 18 declaring themselves in depression.

  • During a gathering of students in Lille on Wednesday, the only solution considered was the reopening of the faculties.

More ghosts than students in Lille.

This Wednesday, less than a hundred students gathered under the windows of the headquarters of the University of Lille.

A weak mobilization which, for some, is perhaps symptomatic of the distress in which the coronavirus crisis has plunged many young people into university studies.

For the demonstrators, if psychological support measures exist, the only solution nevertheless remains the reopening of the universities.

Since last March, due to health measures and successive confinements, students have not spent much time on the benches of lecture halls.

Between extended video sessions, video lessons and cramming in the sofa instead of the library, the mental health of young people in graduate school has taken a hit.

Psychological distress sometimes leading to depression or even suicide.

"When the video lessons end, we find ourselves faced with loneliness and precariousness," testifies David, a first-year political science student.

"By dint of no longer seeing each other, we no longer know each other"

Help lines, online consultations or by appointment are notably mechanisms put in place to help young people in distress.

"There is an intention, an effort from the teachers and the administration, but that is not convincing", insists Adrien, 25, in L1 of philosophy.

Clothilde, a student in quantitative sociology, admits to crying sometimes alone in her room: "By dint of not seeing each other, we no longer know each other with the friends at the start of the year," she says.

However, Clothilde refuses to call for help: “Already, we must admit that we are not doing well.

And the listening lines are still artificial, ”explains the 19-year-old.

Adrien is also skeptical about psychological support measures: “Mutual aid already exists between students, via social networks or groups,” he assures us.

"The person who feels the most abandoned, despite everything that has been put in place, she remains alone", notes Charlotte, a philosophy student.

The problem is therefore the distance.

Whether for lessons or to get help.

“We need social ties,” says Adrien.

By going to college, bars or cultural places ”.

For them, the "we will have to hold on", written by the President of the Republic to a student from Strasbourg, is unthinkable.

"We need an emergency plan to reopen the universities with the means to recruit staff, including psychologists," Alice, 20, a student at Sciences Po Lille, replied.

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  • Covid 19

  • Higher Education

  • Student

  • Coronavirus

  • University

  • Lille