French school protests resume on small scale as students return from break

Education ministry says 41 schools blockaded as students return after holiday break.

High school students in France have resumed protests on a much smaller scale after returning from a two‑week holiday break.

The Ministry of Education reported that 41 schools were blockaded on Monday, representing roughly one percent of the nation’s 3,700 secondary schools, according to Franceinfo.

Students attempted to blockade institutions in Paris, Marseille and Rennes, as noted by Reuters. In the weeks prior to the holiday, hundreds of schools had been blocked.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray told France Inter that the blockades were “very marginal,” describing them as a handful of individual schools. He emphasized that while protesting is permitted, preventing access to schools is unlawful, adding that the school year is now at risk for several hundred thousand pupils and cannot be compromised.

The demonstrations began in the Paris suburbs in September and subsequently spread nationwide. Recently, the movement’s focus broadened to include cost‑of‑living concerns, drawing in trade unionists and activists. Some protests escalated into violent clashes with police and riots in several cities, during which shops were looted, posing a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s minority government.

Student demands include the renovation of aging school buildings, hiring more teachers, expanding university places, and overhauling a university admissions system they view as socially unfair.

Last week, the government announced a phased replacement of the Parcoursup admissions platform by 2028, cancelled planned education job cuts, pledged 500 additional teaching posts, and introduced a cap of 28 pupils per class in the first year of high school. It also allocated €4 billion for school renovations and created 15,000 new higher‑education places, according to Franceinfo.

Student representatives countered that these measures were insufficient and vowed to continue their protests.

“Of course we’re calling for a blockade,” said Pierre Sourzat, president of the student organization Les Lyceens!, according to France 24.

The Union Syndicale Lyceenne and the Student Union have scheduled further blockades for Tuesday and Thursday, while the UNEF student union declared that Tuesday would be a “black day” for universities, with blockades planned across the country.

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