Around 50 French school principals are thinking of quitting amid student blockades

Something unusual is happening in French high schools. Principals, who tend to stay in their jobs until retirement, are now asking to leave.

The main union for school heads, SNPDEN-Unsa, says about fifty of them are thinking of quitting or asking for a transfer. Its general secretary, Bruno Bobkiewicz, gave the figure on RTL on Thursday 5 November.

What happened?

Since the high school protest movement began, more than 200 Éducation nationale staff (France's public school system) have been injured, according to the report. On top of the attacks, principals describe an overloaded workload and a chronic lack of resources.

The union stresses that the figure of fifty is an estimate. It is based on conversations the union held with school heads, not on official statistics.

Why is this a big deal?

Because it breaks a pattern. Olivier Beaufrere, a principal and national secretary of the union for education and teaching matters, says: "We've never seen this." Until now, he explains, principals stayed in post as they approached the end of their careers.

Today, he says, some are ready to go back to being heads of collèges (middle schools for ages 11 to 15), where students don't hold blockades. He says it with sadness.

The union's first assessment comes in the middle of the "mouvement" operations, the yearly process in which staff request postings for the next school year.

What's next?

Tension is still high in many high schools, and the union is watching how many principals actually follow through. The figure is a first estimate, and it may change as the process moves forward.

The situation also lands on a busy day. Unions held a nationwide strike over wages on 5 November, and the government has announced a social conference for Monday.