How much does France spend on education compared with the rest of Europe?

Amid student protests, Al Jazeera visualises how French spending stacks up against defence and healthcare. Save Share French high school students have beenprotestingfor more than two weeks over conditions in schools, including overcrowded classrooms and staff shortages, and they show no sign of stopping. The unrest began on September 21 when pupils blockaded a school in the Paris suburb of Creteil, and within a week, their protest had spread across the country with students and police clashing violently. OnSeptember 29, the demonstrations coincided with a nationwide public sector strike, in which teachers joined other state workers against a proposed pay freeze. More than 6,100 people have since been arrested. With the government under pressure to rein inspendingas its debt rises, Al Jazeera looks at how much France invests in education, how it compares with the rest of Europe and how it measures up against what the country spends on healthcare and defence. According to the latest data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, France’s public spending on education amounts to 5.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). That figure does not include private spending, such as school fees paid by families.