Schooling ministry says 41 faculties blockaded as college students return after vacation break.
Printed On 2 Nov 2026
Highschool college students in France have resumed protests on a a lot smaller scale than in earlier weeks as pupils returned from their two-week vacation break.
The Ministry of Schooling mentioned 41 excessive faculties had been blockaded on Monday, about one % of the nation’s 3,700, in response to the French public broadcaster Franceinfo.
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College students tried to blockade faculties in Paris, Marseille and Rennes, the Reuters information company reported. A whole bunch of colleges had been blockaded within the weeks earlier than the break.
“By way of blockades, or tried blockades, the phenomenon may be very marginal. We’re speaking a couple of handful of models, a couple of particular person faculties,” Schooling Minister Edouard Geffray instructed France Inter radio. He mentioned protests had been allowed, however stopping entry to colleges was unlawful.
“The college yr is now in danger for a number of hundred thousand pupils and we are able to’t permit that,” Geffray mentioned, in response to the state public information service Franceinfo.
The protests began in the Paris suburbs in September and unfold throughout France. Final month, the main focus of the anger broadened past schooling to the price of dwelling, drawing in commerce unionists and activists. In a check for President Emmanuel Macron’s minority authorities, some protests became violent clashes with police and riots in a number of cities, with outlets looted.
College students are demanding the renovation of ageing faculties, extra academics, extra college locations and an finish to a college admissions system they see as socially unfair.
Final week, the federal government introduced a gradual alternative of the Parcoursup admissions platform by 2028, cancelled deliberate schooling job cuts, promised 500 further posts and a cap of 28 pupils per class within the first yr of highschool, Franceinfo reported. It additionally pledged 4 billion euros ($4.47bn) to renovate faculties and 15,000 new locations in increased schooling.
Pupil representatives mentioned the provides weren’t sufficient and vowed to continue protesting.
“After all we’re calling for a blockade,” Pierre Sourzat, president of the scholar organisation Les Lyceens!, mentioned on Sunday, in response to France 24.
The Union Syndicale Lyceenne and Pupil Union have referred to as for additional blockades on Tuesday and Thursday, whereas the UNEF scholar union mentioned Tuesday needs to be a “black day” for universities, with blockades throughout the nation.
