French Pupils Urged to Keep School Blockades Going After Government Measures

On Monday 26 October 2026, the high school student union Les Lycéens urged French pupils to keep blockading their schools and to keep joining street protests, after the government announced a package of education measures. The Guardian reported the call.

The government told student representatives it would cap some class sizes and review the university application system. Under the plan, classes for 15-year-olds in the first year of high school would be capped at 28 pupils in half of the schools in the lowest-income areas, with the cap extended to all high schools next year. Teaching posts would also be created, and the French baccalaureate, the exit exam taken at the end of high school, would be reviewed.

Parcoursup, the national platform French students use to apply to university, will be changed in 2027 and replaced by a new system in 2028, according to the government. Higher education minister Philippe Baptiste said 15,000 extra student places would be created, with a focus on vocational courses. The government also announced a €4bn loan to regional authorities to begin school repairs. Parliament will debate the Parcoursup issue on Wednesday.

Louis Letoublon attended a meeting with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on behalf of Les Lycéens. He said not all of the union's demands had been met and that protests would continue for as long as necessary. Pierre Sourzat, the union's president, said the movement was in a power struggle and still needed sustained mobilisation to win its full list of demands. Responding to the proposals, he said: "We want measures, not half measures." Baptiste said the government's door was "open" to further discussion.

The protests began in September 2026 in the Île-de-France region around Paris, against overcrowded classes. Pupils have demanded an end to shortages of teachers and staff, and repairs to buildings with collapsing ceilings, mould, broken toilets, missing chairs and windows that do not close. Education minister Édouard Geffray said some schools were so run down that they were "not fit" for teaching. Les Lycéens had called for a 10-billion-euro plan for high schools.

The high school movement has been joined by trade unions and by people protesting over the cost of living, who have held regular mass marches on Saturdays. On 17 October, France saw its worst day of violence in years, with looting, fires and vandalism of state buildings. Authorities then imposed curfews in some cities, banned some protests and moved routes to the outskirts of cities. Demonstrations on the following Saturday passed off largely peacefully.

Several children were maimed or seriously injured in the school protests, allegedly by police explosive weapons. Hundreds of children were arrested and held in police custody, according to The Guardian.