Lille (North), correspondence.
“ J‘ve completely messed up my exams, I’m going to have to take the catch-up … “ Under her black mask, Sarah’s annoyed look is easy to guess. A second-year student at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Lille, she recently completed her end-of-first-semester exams, organized remotely. “They have removed the possibility of compensating (exam scores) from one semester to another, she explains. The subjects weren’t any more difficult than that, but psychologically it’s not right at all, she confides. Personally, I tried a lot to pass the exams, but a lot of students gave up completely. “ At the mention of a possible third confinement, she blows: “We don’t even know what to do, it’s too much …”
All her lessons are held at a distance and she believes that “The work overload is enormous”. “I understand that the teachers are also overwhelmed, admits the young woman, but they are demanding. “ She also finds it difficult to accept the guilty speech, implying that the resumption of the epidemic at the beginning of the September was “Because of the students”. “The universities have closed and it has nevertheless increased”, she remarks.
A friend who “lost her home”
Sarah, who lives with her parents, still manages to put things into perspective, given the situation of those who have to work to pay rent and who have sometimes lost their job because of the health crisis. She evokes a girlfriend who “Lost his home”. “She’s a foreigner. She must absolutely validate her year, otherwise she will no longer have a residence permit. She is very stressed. She even spent a week in a psychiatric hospital. Suddenly, I welcomed her to my home ”, she recounts. With his parents and two younger brothers, there are now six at home. The two students share a 9 square meter room. Suffice to say that, under these conditions, the follow-up of the courses on computer and the personal work are complicated to ensure.
This chronicle of student life, at the time of the coronavirus, perfectly illustrates the demands expressed, Wednesday, January 20, during the national mobilization of students. In Lille, they were dozens, gathered at the beginning of the afternoon in front of the university headquarters, in the middle of the Young Communist flags, CGT, Solidaires, rebellious France, EELV, NPA, Unef …
About 450,000 students dropped out
At the microphone, Alice Terrier, of the Young Communists of the North, shouts the figures of the latest published reports: “For several months, approximately 450,000 students have dropped out of their studies, or one in six. Without counting those and those who simply stopped taking the courses. 50% worry about their mental health, 11% have suicidal thoughts… There is on average only one psychologist for 30,000 students. “ In front of this “Inadmissible situation”, she insists : “We are here to ask for an emergency plan to reopen the universities (…) with a strict health plan, free gel and masks, screening centers near places of teaching. “
Tomas Kebbati, for the Young rebels of Lille, refuses to belong to “A sacrificed generation”. He denounces the “Unhealthy Crous housing” and calls for “Requisition empty buildings to make classrooms”. “Together, by fighting, we can win”, insists Yannis Dumon, from the union students high school apprentices CGT of Lille Métropole, calling on students to “Organize in political and union structures”. Among his first objectives, that of obtaining “Free transport and canteens”.
