High school students in France have resumed protests on a reduced scale following a two-week autumn holiday break, with blockades reported at dozens of schools across the country.
The Ministry of Education said 41 high schools were blockaded on Monday, representing approximately one percent of France's 3,700 high schools. Blockades took place in several cities, including Paris, Marseille and Rennes.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray described the scale of the disruption as limited. "In terms of blockades, or attempted blockades, the phenomenon is very marginal. We're talking about a handful of units, a few individual schools," he told France Inter radio.
Geffray acknowledged that protests were permitted but warned that preventing access to schools was illegal. "The school year is now at risk for several hundred thousand pupils and we can't allow that," he said.
The protests began in the Paris suburbs in September and spread across France. In the weeks before the holiday break, hundreds of schools had been blockaded. Last month, the focus of the demonstrations broadened beyond education to include 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, posing a significant test for President Emmanuel Macron's minority government.
Students are demanding the renovation of ageing schools, more teachers, more university places and an end to a university admissions system they consider socially unfair.
During the break, the government announced a series of concessions. These included the gradual replacement of the Parcoursup university admissions platform by 2028, the cancellation of planned education job cuts, a promise of 500 additional posts and a cap of 28 pupils per class in the first year of high school. The government also pledged 4 billion euros ($4.47bn) to renovate schools and 15,000 new places in higher education.
Student representatives said the offers were insufficient and vowed to continue protesting. "Of course we're calling for a blockade," said Pierre Sourzat, president of the student organisation Les Lyceens!, speaking on Sunday.
The Union Syndicale Lyceenne and Student Union have called for further blockades on Tuesday and Thursday. The UNEF student union said Tuesday should be a "black day" for universities, with blockades planned across the country.
