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STUDYING IN FRANCE

Law school orders exam rerun for illegal pee break

A top French university has ruled its law entry exam has to be retaken after desperate students were allowed to take an illegal toilet break. The supervisor reportedly cracked and agreed to bend the rules when a female student stormed out of the exam in floods of tears.

Law school orders exam rerun for illegal pee break
French university orders a law exam to be retaken after an illegal pee break. Photo: Rune Mathison.

An entry exam for one of France's top legal schools is to be rerun because some candidates were allowed to go to the toilet during the five-hour test.

Toulouse University confirmed Monday that one of the examinations for would-be entrants to its law school will have to be taken again by every candidate because a sympathetic supervisor allowed some desperate students to take a comfort break.

The show of compassion came after a female student, unable to hold out any longer, gave up altogether and fled the exam room in tears.

University authorities deemed that the supervisor had "exceeded his authority" and may have handed the students allowed to visit the bathroom an unfair advantage in light of the contemporary prevalence of cheating by smartphone.

The exam will be held again on October 5 and this time the students will have been warned: make sure you've gone before you sit down and be ready to cross your legs for the duration.

French students and school pupils have somewhat of a bad reputation when it comes to cheating in exams. Earlier this year the government announced a major crackdown on school exam cheats including a ban on smartphones.

However that did not stop an audacious attempt by one schoolgirl to pass her exam, when she sent along her 52-year-old mother dressed as a teenager to take the test for her.

Unfortunately the scam were busted by the teachers.

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HEALTH

France to make period products free for students

The French government said on Tuesday it would make period products free for students, joining a global drive to end "period poverty" - the inability to pay for menstrual protection.

France to make period products free for students
Last year, Scotland became the first country in the world to offer free universal access to period products. Photo: Andy Buchanan / AFP

Higher Education Minister Frederique Vidal said that machines containing free tampons, sanitary towels and other period products would be installed in student residences and university health services in the coming weeks.

She added that the government aimed to make period protection “completely free of charge” for all by the start of the next academic year in September.

In November, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products free for all, blazing a trail that inspired feminists and anti-poverty campaigners around the world to also take up the issue of period poverty.

In England, free period products are available in all primary and secondary schools – a move New Zealand said last week it too would implement.

In December, President Emmanuel Macron had promised to also address the issue of period poverty.

Commenting on the plight of homeless women, he noted that “the fact of having your period in the street and to not be able to buy something to protect yourself and preserve your dignity” added to the humiliation they suffered.

The move to make sanitary protection free for students comes amid a growing focus on youth poverty following shock images of food banks being swamped by hard-up students due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many students say they are struggling to make ends meet after losing part-time jobs in cafes and restaurants which have been closed for months due to the health crisis.

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