Covid-19 requires continuous restrictions on research activity and campus life, says French president
French universities shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic could reopen to all students and staff this semester, but with time-restricted access to campus.
President Emmanuel Macron said students should only return for one day of lectures and campus activities a week. During a visit to Paris-Saclay university, he said a full return to normal teaching would not be possible until the summer, despite ongoing efforts to bring France out of its latest Covid-19 lockdown.
Speaking at Paris-Saclay on 21 January, Macron said the return of students to campus was crucial for their future and their wellbeing, especially for vulnerable students. “A student must have the same rights as an employee,” said Macron.
During his visit to Paris-Saclay, Macron was accompanied by higher education and research minister Frédérique Vidal, who used the occasion to launch France’s Quantum research programme.
Face-to-face teaching
According to the president, face-to-face teaching would resume for all students who request it from this semester, following the announcement last week that universities would open for first-year students only.
However, the maximum capacity for lecture theatres will be set at 20 per cent, meaning distance learning will remain the norm.
Other measures announced during the Paris-Saclay visit include making available two €1 meals per day to every public university student, regardless of income. Students can also obtain so-called “psych cheques” to pay for hospital-based psychological and psychiatric consultations.
Admitting previous government failures to set clear guidance for universities during the coronavirus pandemic, Macron made an analogy to research and education, saying failure was part of life.
“He who doesn’t make a mistake, or she who doesn’t make a mistake, is someone who doesn’t search, who does nothing, or who does [only] the same thing as the day before,” he said. “We need to have women and men who seek, who have the capacity to invent what is not yet perceptible, and to make mistakes so they can correct them as quickly as possible and improve.”
Despite the promise to further open campuses, Macron announced on Monday that the government was considering whether to impose a third national lockdown in the face of rising coronavirus cases.
Academia’s mixed response
The response from academia to Macron’s announcement was mixed. The Conference of University Presidents described his words as “good news for the university community” and said staff were being mobilised to ensure the measures are in place as soon as possible.
Higher education union SNESUP-FSU, however, said university teaching had been “severely degraded” by distance learning and criticised the measures for not going far enough for students.
Similarly, researchers’ union SNCS adopted a motion, which said that the ministry of higher education and research had “more than failed” in supporting academic staff and ensuring that research and teaching work continued.
SNCS also complained that students who confronted Macron at Paris-Saclay were “hand-picked”, while other staff and students were locked outside and “muzzled” by police. The union had run a strike on the day of the speech. Regional daily Le Parisien reported that protesting academics and students faced a heavy police presence on campus.