France Extends 1-Euro Meals for Struggling Students Through Christmas

"We must not let them remain isolated, with their difficulties: the message is really to address the Crous who can offer this meal for scholarship students, but also for all students in precariousness," Sylvie Retailleau said on Monday on Sud Radio.

Non-scholarship students who do not have the means to eat will be able to obtain this 1 euro meal until Christmas, the minister specifies, stressing that the file of the students concerned will then be "studied" by the Crous to decide whether or not to maintain this rate.

This meal subsidy will cost the State "50 million euros" in 2023, indicates Sylvie Retailleau, specifying on the subject of the reduction in the quantities of meals at the Crous of Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) in particular, that it "is not a question of having students going to class on an empty stomach".

To address the precariousness of students, the minister has taken several measures since taking office, including increasing housing assistance (APL), revaluing scholarships, or freezing Crous rents. "We are aware that this is not enough," she acknowledges.