Cries of joy ring out around Léa.
“Sorry, but it’s because we just crossed a million views!
», says, a smile in her voice, the 16-year-old teenager reached by telephone.
This Thursday afternoon, this student enrolled in 1st general at the Blaise-Cendrars high school in Sevran marched in Paris with her teachers and classmates to demand an emergency plan for education in Seine-Saint-Denis.
A demonstration that they partly spent with their noses glued to their screens to follow the evolution of the buzz of their video posted online on Wednesday.
Their short film of one minute and thirty-seven seconds recorded 1.2 million views in 24 hours on TikTok, the favorite social network for adolescents.
Students and their teachers describe the setbacks they encounter on a daily basis.
“I am a French teacher in 93, obviously when I was pregnant, my students did not have French lessons for six months during their baccalaureate year,” says a teacher.
“I’m a student at Blaise Cendrars, of course the heating doesn’t work,” adds a teenager.
“I am a student at Blaise Cendrars in 93, obviously we don’t have a table for lessons,” says another, with supporting image.
@lyceeblaisecendrars
We are at Blaise Cendrars obviously that... #lyceeblaisecendrars #pourtoi #fyp #seinesaintdenis #faitenouspercercestpourunevraicause #sevran #93270 #jeuneendetresse #lyceens
♬ original sound - LyceeBlaiseCendrars
“I had the idea for this video when I saw a video of students from the Louis-Le-Grand high school in Paris, where they compared their establishment to a museum,” explains Léa.
I told myself that it had nothing to do with what we experienced on a daily basis and we decided to shoot it all together.
It worked, we’re super happy!
»
The teenager deplores in particular the lesson hours lost due to a lack of sufficient replacement teachers or the lack of staff in the medical-social center of her establishment.
She also regrets the state of the school buildings: “There are water leaks, classes where we don't even have enough tables.
»
“The high school has not ordered school furniture in 2023”, assures the Region
The students' initiative is welcomed by their teachers, some of whom have been very mobilized since the start of the strike launched by an inter-union (FSU, CGT Éduc'action, SUD Éducation and CNT) on February 26.
“They are totally aware of the deterioration of our public service,” said Clément Bernard, a mathematics teacher who has been on strike for ten days.
Concerning criticism of school buildings, the Île-de-France regional council - responsible for the management and maintenance of high schools - emphasizes that the “biannual maintenance meeting of the establishment was held on Friday March 1 and the malfunctions highlighted in this video were not brought to the attention of the technical services of the high school center of the Region.
Regarding the elevator malfunction, “the maintenance contract and its implementation are the responsibility of the establishment,” he points out.
Regarding the lack of tables and chairs, he further states that “the high school has not ordered school furniture in 2023” and that it “benefited from furniture to equip the demountable buildings and from an allocation to replace the furniture a room with 36 seats.
“The establishment benefits from an operating grant of around 230,000 euros and excess working capital,” adds the regional council.
The establishment therefore has all the necessary means to operate normally.
»