France: free periodic protection at the start of the school year for female students
The Minister of Higher Education and Research, Frédrique Vidal, during her debate with students in Poitiers, February 23, 2020 (Image illustration).
AFP - GUILLAUME SOUVANT
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Periodic protections will be free at the start of the next school year in France for all students, announced Tuesday the French Minister of Higher Education, Frédérique Vidal.
A decision that is part of the fight against the precariousness of young people.
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In the coming weeks, public university residences and university health services will be equipped with dispensers of hygienic protection, announced Ms. Vidal during a meeting in Poitiers.
“
We are aiming for 1,500 distributors and full free admission at the start of the school year,
” she added.
The free periodical protection in higher education was decided after a consultation work between the minister and various actors (parliamentarians, representative student organizations, or even the Elementary Rules association), specified Ms. Vidal.
Local initiatives
According to a study carried out by the Federative Association of Poitiers Students and the National Association of Midwifery Students in February, a third of students need help to be able to purchase periodic protection.
Until now in France, initiatives existed but often remained local.
In early February, the Ile-de-France region, for example, announced that the faculties and student residences in the region would soon be equipped with free distributors of organic periodic protection.
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This measure is in addition to others taken in favor of young people, hard hit by the health crisis.
In January, French President
Emmanuel Macron announced
the creation of a “
psy check
” for students and the establishment of two meals a day for one euro in university restaurants.
These advances are "
insufficient
" in the eyes of organizations such as the National Union of French Students (Unef) which calls for an emergency plan of 1.5 billion euros, starting with an immediate increase in grants and aid. housing as well as the establishment of a social safety net for all students.
This announcement comes as the minister has appeared weakened in recent days, after a controversy sparked by her outings on "
Islamo-leftism
", a term evoking a convergence between Islamists and the extreme left which, according to her, "
plagues society
" and wins university.
Seeming in a hurry to turn the page, she has since hammered home that her "
priority is the question of students
".
(
With
AFP)
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