法国周末遭遇冲击，数周来的高中生为改善学习环境而进行的抗议活动在多个主要城市被暴力抢劫者劫持，原因是燃油价格上涨以及持续的生活成本危机。
France experienced a weekend of shocks as weeks-long high school student protests for better study environments were hijacked by violent looters across major cities, angered by rising fuel prices and an ongoing cost of living crisis.
虽然这些集会有数十万人和平抗议，但周末的冲突导致出现混乱场景：数百家商店被洗劫，利摩日历史悠久的市政厅被焚毁，巴黎、马赛、波尔多等城市的多座公共建筑遭到袭击。
While the rallies saw hundreds of thousands protest peacefully, clashes over the weekend led to chaotic scenes: hundreds of shops were pillaged, the historic city hall of Limoges was burned down and multiple public buildings across cities like Paris, Marseilles and Bordeaux were attacked.
周日晚间，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙在对法国人民的电视讲话中呼吁明确区分那些破坏财产的人和平抗议者。
In his televised speech to the French people on Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a clear distinction between those who destroyed properties and the peaceful protesters.
“几周来，我们的青年一直在中学和大学里表达深深的焦虑，担忧他们的未来、生活和学习条件……他们将没有理想未来的想法，”马克龙说，并承诺他们的声音“将被听到”。
“For several weeks, our youth have been expressing a deep anxiety in high schools and universities, worrying for their future, their living and study conditions … the idea that they will not have a desirable future,” Macron said, vowing that their voices “will be heard”.
这些抗议背后的不满指向法国教育体系的问题，分析人士称这可能威胁到该国在创新方面赶超美国和中国的雄心。
This grievance behind the protests points to issues with France’s education system that analysts say could threaten the country’s ambition to innovate and catch up with the US and China.
经济合作与发展组织（OECD）上月发布的最新《国际学生评估项目》（PISA）报告显示，法国在科学、阅读或数学方面达到第5或6级的顶尖表现者仅占9.8%，而中国大陆（覆盖北京、上海、江苏和浙江学生）的比例为55.5%。
In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) last Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report published last month, France has only 9.8 per cent of top performers – those who reached level 5 or 6 – in science, reading or mathematics, compared to 55.5 per cent for mainland China, covering students from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
“从理论上讲，这些顶尖表现者将拥有最好的工作并具备创新能力，但法国在这一比例上在每次PISA周期中都在下降……现在应该采取行动，”OECD教育分析师埃里克·夏博尼埃说。
“It shows that in terms of people that are top performers, that in theory will have the best jobs will have the capacity to innovate, the proportion is decreasing [for France] every PISA cycle … now action should be taken,” said Eric Charbonnier, an education analyst at the OECD.
报告显示，接受测试的中国学生中有9.3%达到了科学领域的第6级，而法国仅为0.8%。在数学方面，差距更大，中国达到30%，法国仅为0.7%。
The report showed that 9.3 per cent of the Chinese students tested reached level 6 in science, compared to only 0.8 per cent in France. For maths, the gap was even bigger, 30 per cent for China and only 0.7 per cent for France.
尽管法国公共债务上升，且近期正努力削减政府支出，但在纸面上，法国并未削减教育预算。对于2027年预算，政府计划拨款640亿欧元（719亿美元）用于教育，较去年增加10亿欧元。
On paper, despite rising public debts and recent efforts to bring down government spending, France did not cut its budget for education. For the 2027 budget, the government is planning €64 billion (US$71.9 billion) for education, up by €1 billion year on year.
但对夏博尼埃而言，问题不在于投入了多少资金，而在于这些资金是否被有效使用。据法国政府称，2027年拟议的教育预算中有32%将用于支付社会福利，尤其是养老金。
But the problem for Charbonnier is not how much money was invested but how well it was spent. A lot of the investment is blocked in paying for social benefits: 32 per cent of the proposed education budget in 2027 will go to pensions, according to the French government.
“这不是对教育质量的投资。这也不是对教师的投资，也不是对改善工作条件的投资，”夏博尼埃说。
“It’s not an investment on the quality of education. It’s not an investment on teachers, on improving the working condition,” Charbonnier said.
与此同时，法国的教师短缺问题正日益恶化。根据法国最大的中学校长工会SNPDEN的数据，今年9月开学时，全国约有65%的中学至少缺少一名教师，较2025年增加了5个百分点。
Meanwhile, the teacher shortage issue is worsening in the country. Some 65 per cent of French schools were missing at least one teacher this year when school started in September, up by 5 per cent compared to 2025, according to the SNPDEN, France’s largest union of secondary school principals.
夏博尼埃指出，在这样一个高度集权的国家——巴黎主导着众多规则——法国在教育政策上也出现了高度不确定性。他补充说，过去15年里法国共有12位教育部长，每位部长都试图推行自己的改革，导致学校陷入混乱。
In a centralised country where Paris dictates a lot of the rules, France has also seen a high level of policy uncertainty in education, according to Charbonnier, adding that France had 12 education ministers in the past 15 years and each one of them attempted to do their own reforms, creating confusion for schools.
萨夏·科蒂亚尔也指出，大量资金被用于校舍维修。科蒂亚尔是亲欧盟政党“法国伏尔特”（Volt France）的联合主席，该党在年轻一代中较为活跃。
A lot of funding was also put into building maintenance, according to Sacha Courtial, co-president of Volt France, a pro-EU party active on the younger generation.
许多法国高中建于多年前的第三共和国时期，仅维护就需要巨额投资，他说道。在抗议活动持续的几周里，许多高中生抱怨在没有空调的酷热天气中学习，或是在冬季供暖不足的教室里上课。
Many French high schools were built many years ago, under the Third Republic, and need a huge amount of investment just for maintenance, he said. During the weeks of protests, many high school students complained about studying in extreme heat without air conditioners or during winter times in classrooms with inadequate heating.
此外，库尔蒂亚尔指出，与中国、美国或北欧国家相比，法国在数字化方面也落后，教学材料过时，未提及人工智能等新技术。
Moreover, compared to China, the US or northern European countries, France also lags in digitalisation efforts and the teaching materials are outdated with no mention of new technologies such as AI, according to Courtial.
“每位政客都会说青年是未来，但我们必须承认……教育政策没有得到足够的重视，”他说道。
“Every politician will say that youth is the future but we have to admit that … the education policies have not been prioritised enough,” he said.