巴黎，10月9日——克莱蒙斯·雷米于2020年搬到法国南特市，并把她的两个女儿送入当地的公立学校。老师们还不错，但她对频繁的教师罢工感到极度恼火，最终把孩子们转入了私立学校。
PARIS, Oct 9 - Clemence Remy moved to the French city of Nantes in 2020 and enrolled her two girls in the local state school. The teachers were good, but she grew so exasperated by rolling staff strikes that she eventually put them in a private school.
对公立学校的担忧助长了法国数十年来最激烈的抗议活动。这些抗议上个月在巴黎贫困的北部郊区的高中爆发，教师缺勤和设施破旧引发的愤怒迅速演变成一场针对不平等、公共支出不足和教育水平下降的全国性运动。
Those concerns about state schools have helped fuel some of France's most violent protests in decades. They began last month at high schools in Paris' poor northern suburbs, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards.
法国的公立学校长期被视为共和理想的熔炉，是富裕和贫困家庭的孩子都能接受高质量教育、并灌输“自由、平等、博爱”价值观的场所。
France's public schools have long been held up as a crucible of the republican ideal, a place where children from rich and poor families alike can receive a top-notch education imbued with the values of "liberty, equality and fraternity".
但多年来教育表现一直在下滑，政府在巨额养老金支出和需要收紧公共财政的压力下，几乎没有回旋余地，难以遏止这一趋势。
But performance has been slipping for years, and the government is struggling to arrest the slide as gigantic pension outlays and a need to rein in public finances leave little room for manoeuvre.
这些问题促使越来越多的富裕家长放弃公立教育，转向私立学校。雷米说，位于法国西部左倾城市南特的女儿学校的罢工常常是临时通知的，导致她必须多次请假，几乎没有预警。
Those issues have prompted a growing number of wealthier parents to abandon the public sector in favour of private schooling. Remy said the strikes at her daughters' school in Nantes, a left-leaning city in western France, were often last-minute, requiring repeated time off work with little notice.
“学校是我们应该能够依赖的机构，”她说。“最终，你会意识到你不能依赖这个系统。”标准下降，养老金吞噬缩减的资金根据经合组织2025年“PISA”结果，法国15岁学生的数学和阅读水平自2003年以来大幅下降，已跌至创纪录的低点，远低于经合组织的平均水平。
"School is an institution we should be able to rely on," she said. "In the end, you realise you can't rely on the system." STANDARDS FALL AS PENSIONS GOBBLE UP SHRINKING FUNDS The maths and reading levels of French 15-year-olds have fallen drastically since 2003, reaching a record low well below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average, according to the body's 2025 "PISA" results.
在2024/25学年，法国公立中学约有近10%的教学时数——相当于每周几乎半天的教学——无法配备教师，其中四分之三的缺口是由于缺勤教师未得到替代导致的。
French state secondary schools were unable to staff nearly 10% of teaching hours - or almost half a day of teaching per week - in the 2024/25 school year, of which three-quarters is due to the non-replacement of absent teachers.
根据法国国有贷款机构Caisse des Dépôts旗下投资部门Banque des Territoires在2025年发布的一份报告，法国10%至20%的学校建筑“处于严重失修状态”。
Between 10% and 20% of French school buildings are "in a significantly deteriorated condition", according to a 2025 report by Banque des Territoires, the investment arm of state-owned lender Caisse des Dépôts.
专家称，政府无力扭转教育领域的颓势，部分原因在于不断增长的养老金支出挤占了其他优先事项的资源。
The government's inability to turn the tide on education is partly explained by a growing pensions bill that sucks resources away from other priorities, experts say.
法国2027年的教育预算为640亿欧元（720亿美元），而教师养老金则使成本额外增加了28%。
France's 2027 education budget is €64 billion ($72 billion). Teachers' pensions add another 28% to the cost.
据路透社基于欧洲统计局数据的计算，过去二十年间，法国政府养老金总支出（预计明年将达到4360亿欧元，占经济产出的14%）的增长速度超过了所有其他公共支出类别，而教育支出却在减少。
Total government spending on pensions, which is due to reach 436 billion euros or 14% of economic output next year, has grown faster than all other categories of public expenditure over the last two decades, while spending has slipped for education, according to Reuters calculations based on Eurostat data.
养老金支出的持续增长不仅源于人口老龄化，也源于选民对提高退休年龄或削减养老金待遇的抵制。
The steady growth in pension spending is due not only to an ageing population, but also to voters' resistance to increasing the retirement age or reducing what retirees get.
智库Institut de l’Entreprise的经济学家Erwann Tison表示，养老金支出正在“吞噬”教育预算。这意味着法国只能向职业生涯早期的教师支付低于经合组织平均水平的薪资，从而引发不满和罢工行动。
Economist Erwann Tison of the think tank Institut de l’Entreprise said pension spending "cannibalises" the education budget. That means France can only pay early-career teachers below-OECD-average salaries that contribute to frustration and strike action.
诺贝尔经济学奖得主Paul Krugman周四在其Substack上写道：“法国实际上是在以牺牲其他所有人的利益为代价，向老年群体提供巨额补贴。大规模的学生全国性示威活动也就不足为奇了。”富裕家庭转向私立学校法国绝大多数私立学校均按照“签约制”模式运营。
"France is effectively handing over large subsidies to older French at the expense of everyone else," Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote on his Substack on Thursday. "Mass national student demonstrations should come as no surprise." WEALTHIER FAMILIES MIGRATE TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS The vast majority of French private schools operate according to the "under-contract" model.
这些学校几乎完全由天主教机构管理，因此在师资和招生方面拥有更大的自主权。其教师由国家支付薪资，而学费则用于覆盖非教学相关费用。由于拥有更充足的代课教师储备，这类学校受罢工或教师缺勤的影响较小。
Almost entirely Catholic-run, such schools have greater control over staffing and admissions. Their teachers are paid by the state, with fees covering non-teaching costs. A larger pool of substitute teachers means they are less affected by strikes or absences.
超过200万儿童，占所有学生的17.6%，就读于法国7500多所合同制学校之一，2023年国家审计署报告称。
Over 2 million children, or 17.6% of all pupils, attend one of France's more than 7,500 under-contract schools, according to a 2023 national audit office report.
虽然这一比例在2011年至2021年间略有上升，但报告发现，富裕家庭儿童的比例增长是以贫困儿童为代价的。报告称，一些家庭为了避免当地公立学校，或出于对安全和教师缺勤的担忧，转而选择合同制学校。
Although this proportion rose modestly between 2011 and 2021, the percentage of children from wealthier families has grown at the expense of poorer children, the report found. It said some families had moved over to avoid local state schools, or had concerns about safety and teacher absences.
2021年，“非常富裕”家庭的学生占总数的40.2%，而2000年仅为26.4%；如今，合同制学校中超过一半的学生来自“富裕或非常富裕”背景，而公立学校中这一比例不足三分之一。
Pupils from "very advantaged" families accounted for 40.2% of the total in 2021 compared to just 26.4% in 2000, while over half of pupils at under-contract schools now come from "advantaged or very advantaged" backgrounds, compared with less than a third in state schools.
卢森堡大学社会学家路易斯·肖维尔说：“五十年前，雄心勃勃的家庭的目标是公立部门。今天，如果想最大化孩子的机会，私立机构往往被视为更好的途径。”法国天主教私立学校家长协会Apel主席维尔吉妮·杜兰表示，并非所有家庭都富裕，许多家长为此付出了巨大牺牲。但她也承认，某些社区中富裕学生的集中度在不断上升。
"Fifty years ago, ambitious families aimed for the public sector," said Louis Chauvel, a sociologist at the University of Luxembourg. "Today, private institutions are often seen as the better route if you want to maximise your kids' chances." Virginie Durin, the president of Apel, France's main association representing parents of pupils in Catholic private schools, said not all were wealthy, and that many parents made great sacrifices to afford them. But she acknowledged a growing concentration of wealthier students in certain neighbourhoods.
雷米所在的南特是法国合同制学校的重镇，38%的学生接受私立教育。
Nantes, where Remy lives, is a stronghold of under-contract schools in France, with 38% of pupils privately educated.
雷米每个孩子每月支付191欧元（约214美元），她认识到私立学校并非所有人都能负担得起，且有被富裕阶层占据的风险。但她并不后悔。
Remy, who pays €191 ($214) a month per child, recognised that private schools were not affordable for everyone, and were at risk of being colonised by the wealthy. But she had no regrets.
“我认为这提供了一个环境，至少孩子们会被鼓励去努力、争取更好。”——路透社
"I think it provides an environment where at least the children are encouraged to strive and do better." REUTERS