French Students Resume School Blockades as Government and Unions Clash

High school students in France resumed blockades of their schools on Monday, Nov. 2, as pupils came back from a two-week holiday. The action was much smaller than in the weeks before the break, but student unions have called for more blockades this week and trade unions plan a large strike on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera and The Guardian.

The protests, which began in the Paris suburbs in September, have grown into one of the biggest social crises of President Emmanuel Macron's presidency, The Guardian reported. The government says weeks of lost lessons now threaten the school year for many students.

What happened on Monday

Al Jazeera, citing the public broadcaster Franceinfo, reported that the Ministry of Education counted 41 high schools blockaded, about one percent of the country's 3,700. Hundreds of schools had been blockaded in the weeks before the break. Student unions put the figure at 150, The Guardian reported, so the two sides disagree on the scale.

Students tried to block schools in Paris, Marseille and Rennes, according to Reuters, as cited by Al Jazeera. The Guardian added Lille and Toulouse and said pupils barricaded entrances with wheelie bins. Police outside some schools tried to drag the bins away and made arrests.

In Montpellier, a Socialist senator, Hussein Bourgi, accused the government of misconduct and provocation after video showed a 53-year-old school nurse speaking to police near a barricade and then being forced to the ground, handcuffed and taken into custody. The local prefect, who oversees police operations, defended the arrest. He said the woman had insulted officers and resisted, The Guardian reported.

What the government says

Education Minister Edouard Geffray told France Inter radio that blockades were now marginal, limited to a handful of schools. He said protests are allowed, but preventing access to schools is illegal.

Geffray also said the school year is at risk for several hundred thousand pupils, many of them preparing for the baccalauréat exam at the end of the year. He said they have had no classes for four or five weeks if holidays are counted, and the government cannot allow that. A headteachers' union leader, Nicolas Bonnet of SNPDEN-UNSA, said it was time to return to teaching and warned that coursework, final-year exams and university applications were at risk. He also said he understood why students felt the government had not done enough.

Last week the government announced a gradual replacement of the Parcoursup admissions platform by 2028 and canceled planned education job cuts, Franceinfo reported. It also promised 500 additional posts, a cap of 28 pupils per class in the first year of high school, 4 billion euros ($4.47 billion) to renovate schools and 15,000 new places in higher education. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he would meet student unions again next week.

What the students say

Student representatives said last week's offer was not enough. Pierre Sourzat, president of the group Les Lycéens!, told France 24 on Sunday that they were calling for a blockade. Nathanaël Combary of the student union Renouveau Lycéen, who is also a member of Macron's party, Renaissance, said students must keep pressing in what he called a battle of strength with the government. He told BFMTV the measures on class sizes and the admissions platform were inadequate and that protest was the only way to get a response.

Students are demanding repairs to aging schools, more teachers, more university places and an end to an admissions system they see as socially unfair. Last month the anger widened to the cost of living, drawing in trade unionists and activists. Some protests turned into violent clashes with police and riots in several cities, with shops looted, Al Jazeera reported.

What this means for families and pupils

For students, the immediate effect is lost class time at a stage when coursework and exam preparation are under way. Education officials and headteachers say this could affect final-year exams and university applications. For parents and commuters, the week could bring further disruption: the Union Syndicale Lycéenne and Student Union called for blockades on Tuesday and Thursday, and the UNEF student union said Tuesday should be a day of blockades at universities nationwide.

On Thursday, rail workers, teachers and private-sector employees are expected to join demonstrations in cities across France over school conditions, the cost of living and low salaries, according to The Guardian. Lecornu's planned meeting with student unions next week is the next scheduled step in the talks.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Al Jazeera, The Guardian