French teacher murder: the conundrum of making schools more secure against attacks
The murder of a teacher, and the serious wounding of three other staff in an apparent terrorist knife attack at a secondary school the north-east French town of Arras on October 13th has prompted intense debate on how to improve security in schools in France. It has heightened concern over a series of violent incidents at schools in recent years, including the stabbing murder and decapitation in 2020 of a teacher in a Paris suburb, also in a terrorist attack. Teachers’ unions have warned against proposed measures that would turn schools into fortresses, while existing security arrangements, such as alarms and fencing, have for long been left in disrepair. Education correspondent Mathilde Goanec reports.
TheThe murder last week of a schoolteacher in the town of Arras, north-east France, who was stabbed by a former pupil of the school in what investigators are treating as a terrorist act, has prompted intense debate among education staff and parents on how to improve security in schools without transforming them into fortress-like buildings.
