Wednesday, January 14, 1997 : the French ministry of National Education decided to close until new decision the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris. A blockade by the police was set, and prevents the students and the staff of that school from moving freely. Lessons are adjourned, the canteen no longer works, the library and the research laboratories are closed.
Those measures were taken after the occupation of the premises of the Ecole Normale Supérieure by unemployed workers, people in precariousness, students, wages-earners and homeless persons. Though determined, that occupation goes off peacefully. General meetings are taking place, in which many students of the School participate. And, unlike the Paris Police Headquarters and the Education Ministry pretend, that action in itself has not brought about any damaging in the premises, nor interrupted the research or teaching activities. That interruption is due to decision of French government.
The movement of the unemployed demands, among others, the general raising of social compensations, and the extension of the Insertion Minimum Revenue to all people under 25 and to students with no means of support.
We find it scandalous that a research and teaching institution could be closed by police forces. That unjustified blockade denies the calling of all university institution, being a place of debate, exchange and critical reflection. We do support the rightful claims of the people who occupy the School and demand the immediate withdrawal of the police forces around the Ecole Normale Supérieure.
Paris, January, Friday 16, 1997
The supporting committee of Students at the Ecole Normale Supérieure.