PARIS (Reuters) - French teachers, trade unions and opposition leaders expressed outrage on Friday after President Nicolas Sarkozy said he wanted a new law to ensure schools stay open when teachers go on strike so parents can get to work.

Sarkozy made the surprise announcement in a televised speech late on Thursday, a day when hundreds of thousands of teachers went on strike to protest against plans to cut 11,200 jobs in the education system next year.

His proposal would make teachers give 48 hours' strike notice so local authorities could arrange for educational assistants or other municipal staff to supervise primary school children on strike days. It set off a storm of protest.

"Instead of a response to a new and massive day of mobilization, teachers and students instead were treated to a bare-faced provocation from the president," the influential left-wing CGT labor union said in a statement.

Teachers' union Unsa-Education denounced what it called "scathing contempt" for teachers' demands. "It's a triple blow: against the right to strike, against teachers, against dialogue," the union said.

Sarkozy brushed off their criticisms on Friday.

"If it's a provocation to have an opinion, a belief, then we might just as well give up on democracy," he told reporters.

Education Minister Xavier Darcos defended the proposal, saying the rights of parents and children were important too.

"It's a question of equality, social justice and the general interest," he said.

But the right to strike is almost sacrosanct for French unions and they interpreted Sarkozy's proposed new law as a threat to it.

"The red line that should not be crossed is the terms under which we exercise the right to strike, and here it has been crossed," said Gerard Aschieri, head of the FSU teachers' union.

The idea of maintaining "minimum service" during strikes was a campaign promise by Sarkozy, who came into power a year ago.

A law providing for minimum service during transport strikes came into effect on January 1, but its effectiveness has yet to be tested as there have been no major stoppages in the sector this year.

Recent opinion polls have shown that extending the measure to education would be popular. Sarkozy's critics said Thursday's shock move was intended to boost his popularity ratings, which have plummeted to record lows this year.

"It's not about improving public services, it's about him looking for a way to improve his situation at a time when he's facing difficulties in the polls and with his own party," said Francois Hollande, head of the opposition Socialist Party.

Unions renewed their call for a broader public sector strike on May 22 to protest against a raft of government reforms.

(Additional reporting by Sophie Louet and Gerard Bon; editing by Andrew Roche)

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