Article source: "Présidentielle : Emmanuel Macron promet 2.500 euros par an aux étudiants réservistes [paywall]", Marie-Christine Corbier, Les Echos, 18/03/2022.
Emmanuel Macron didn’t go into detail during his press conference on Thursday, but his election manifesto makes clear his intention to increase financial support for student reservists. It promises that “for those who enlist as long-term reservists, 2500 euros per year will be made available for up to five years to help with higher education expenses.” In France there are currently three reserve branches of the security services in which a person can enlist for varying lengths of time: the traditional armed forces and France’s two national law enforcement bodies, the police and the gendarmerie.
This measure is in line with Emmanuel Macron’s ambition to “establish a civil mobilisation plan” to strengthen France’s resilience in times of crisis. Macron says that this can be accomplished by “making an inventory of the skills of French people who volunteer to be mobilised in case of a serious emergency.”
"I want us to strengthen our ability to defend ourselves"
“In addition to the armed services, there are also the police and gendarmerie,” he said at the press conference on Thursday, “and I want us to strengthen our ability to defend ourselves against new risks by mobilising the entire nation and increasing the number of reservists in the ranks of the internal security forces.” He cited a recent bill proposed by the French interior ministry which intends to “more than double the number of reservists in the police and the gendarmerie.”
French citizens aged seventeen and up who enlist in the operational military reserve forces (both the armed services and the gendarmerie) for a period of one to five years are already entitled to financial aid if they are enrolled in professional training or higher education. However, these payments are currently capped at 100 euros per month. Reservists are required to serve 60 days per year, but this period can be increased to 210 days if necessary.
In response to this manifesto pledge, Paul Mayaux, president of the French student union FAGE, said, “It’s shameful to make the government’s financial aid contingent upon enrolment in the reserves, at a time when students are already experiencing serious difficulties.” Mayaux said he did not understand why other forms of civic engagement – such as volunteering, combatting discrimination, or environmental conservation – would not attract the same financial benefits.
Laura Lehmann, the vice-president of FAGE in charge of lobbying the presidential candidates, is worried about how little Macron has spoken on the topic of student life and the much awaited student grant reform.
"What about students?"
“We are rather surprised and disappointed to see that this topic, which should be a top priority, isn’t treated as such by Emmanuel Macron, whereas it is by other candidates,” she explained, lamenting “the total absence of any mention of student life in both Macron’s speech and his manifesto.” “What about students?” she tweeted on Thursday, during the press conference, reiterating that FAGE, the largest student union in France, “expects strong, concrete, and structural measures that would allow all 2.8 million students to live, study, and be free.”
Nevertheless, in January, speaking at a conference for French university presidents, Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to “entirely revise the whole package of student support measures, ranging from student grants and housing to job opportunities that are compatible with academic success.” He said that the topic of student life is “an essential undertaking for envisioning our universities and student life with 2030 on the horizon.”
In terms of civic engagement, Emmanuel Macron also talked on Thursday about the extension of France’s national volunteer programme to all youngsters, something which “allows young people to gain a more well-rounded education by taking part in valuable voluntary work to gain new skills.” And, for those who do national service – which he proposes to make mandatory – the government will also cover the cost of getting a driver’s license.
Translation by Tate Neilsen and Charles Cazalis.
Editing by Sam Trainor.