Unions urge teachers to strike as French school exams go ahead in up to 40C heat

French teaching unions have called on staff to strike over what they describe as unsafe working conditions in schools as France keeps its national exams on schedule during a punishing heatwave.

Education minister Édouard Geffray says the brevet exams for more than 850,000 15-year-olds will go ahead on Friday, with the tests held in the morning and finished by midday.

The dispute has sharpened as temperatures have climbed to as high as 40C in some classrooms, adding pressure on schools already coping with closures, shortened hours and repeated warnings about the strain on students and staff.

Strike call and exam timetable

Several teaching unions issued a joint call for staff to strike over what they describe as unacceptable conditions in sweltering schools. Their complaint centers on the heat inside classrooms during the exam period, when teachers and students are expected to continue normal operations despite the weather.

Geffray has said the ministry will keep the brevet exams in place and rely on mitigation measures rather than postponement. Those measures include seating desks farther apart, distributing water and relaxing some rules so students can pause briefly to cool down if needed.

He also said some schools may be cooler than students' homes, suggesting the government sees the existing timetable as manageable even in extreme conditions.

Schools already under strain

The heatwave has already forced authorities to close 3,500 schools deemed too hot and to reduce hours at a further 10,000, showing how widely the conditions have disrupted the education system.

Le Monde reported in late May that nearly 80% of classrooms surveyed in middle and high schools were above 30C during an earlier heatwave, with many exceeding 33C. That reporting also pointed to poor insulation and widespread discomfort among students and staff.

A national heatwave management plan was introduced on May 28, but critics said it was not enough to address the scale of the problem inside school buildings.

The Île-de-France region has separately allocated €1 million for cooling equipment for schools, underlining how local authorities are trying to respond even as the national exam schedule remains unchanged.

What comes next

The immediate question is whether the unions broaden their action into a wider strike and whether that affects exam administration in more places.

Officials will also be watching whether more schools close, whether temperatures ease before the brevet dates and whether the ministry is forced to alter the schedule if the heatwave persists.

For now, the government is sticking with the plan to proceed, while unions are signaling that they see the exam period itself as part of the labor dispute.