Each autumn the French school year begins with a familiar rhythm of return, but this year children came back to find their gates barricaded by wheelie bins, a sign that a grievance born in September has outlasted the holidays. Pupils who say their schools are crumbling and under-staffed have chosen the most visible weapon they have, and the state now stands between its own promises and a generation's sense of being unheard. What is at stake is not only the timing of a strike or the count of blocked doors, but the older question of how a democracy listens to its youngest citizens, and what they
French Pupils Resume School Blockades as Government Warns Exams Are at Risk
A 53-year-old school nurse was handcuffed and taken into police custody near a Montpellier school barricade, a arrest the prefect defended and opposition senators criticised.
Hundreds of thousands have had no classes for four or five weeks
Mark
Why is this being treated as such a big crisis? Blockades at schools aren't new.
Mimi
What's different is the length and the breadth. These have run since September, and now university unions and trade unions are joining in, with a strike called for Thursday.
Mark
And the government's main argument is about exams?
Mimi
Yes. Geffray says hundreds of thousands of baccalauréat candidates have had no classes for four or five weeks, counting holidays, and that the school year is at risk.
Luke
That's the minister's characterisation, though. The report doesn't give an independent count of lost teaching days, and "four or five weeks" includes the holiday.
Mark
What about the scale of the blockades?
Luke
It's contested. The ministry says 41 schools, about 1%. The unions say 150. Neither number is verified here, and each side has a reason to pick its figure.
Mimi
Even 41 is a lot of schools for a movement that has lasted this long, and it's visible in the big cities.
Mark
Combary belongs to Macron's own party yet is pushing the protest. Does that matter?
Mimi
It shows the discontent isn't only coming from the government's opponents. He called last week's offer on class sizes and the applications platform inadequate.
Luke
Though he's one union representative. We can't say from this how far his view reflects pupils generally.
Mark
And the nurse in Montpellier?
Luke
Video shows the arrest, but not what she said. The prefect says she insulted and resisted officers; Senator Bourgi calls it provocation. That dispute is unresolved.
Mimi
Next week's meeting with Lecornu is the thing to watch, along with Thursday's strike.
O Pulso
- Dozens of lycées in Paris, Lille, Toulouse and Marseille were blockaded again on the first school morning after the holidays, defying the president's appeal.
- The ministry counts 41 blocked schools while the unions claim 150, and the gap between those numbers has become a battle of its own.
- The education minister warns that hundreds of thousands of final-year pupils may lose the weeks they need for coursework and the baccalauréat, and calls the blockades illegal.
- A school nurse's handcuffed arrest near a Montpellier barricade has turned a protest over classrooms into a fight over police conduct.
- With a nationwide strike set for Thursday and a meeting with the prime minister promised for next week, the standoff is heading toward a decisive and uncertain week.
Each autumn the French school year begins with a familiar rhythm of return, but this year children came back to find their gates barricaded by wheelie bins, a sign that a grievance born in September has outlasted the holidays. Pupils who say their schools are crumbling and under-staffed have chosen the most visible weapon they have, and the state now stands between its own promises and a generation's sense of being unheard. What is at stake is not only the timing of a strike or the count of blocked doors, but the older question of how a democracy listens to its youngest citizens, and what they lose while the argument goes on.
On Monday morning, as French children returned from a two-week holiday, wheelie bins were dragged across the gates of high schools in Paris and its suburbs, and in Lille, Toulouse and Marseille. Dozens of lycées were blockaded again, and in some places police tried to pull the bins away and made arrests.
The blockades have run since September and grown into one of the largest protest movements of Emmanuel Macron's presidency. Pupils want more replacement teachers and repairs to crumbling buildings. Their unions ignored the president's call to stop when classes resumed. How many schools are affected is disputed: the ministry counts 41, the unions 150.
Some of the loudest voices come from inside the president's own camp. Nathanaël Combary, of the school students' union Renouveau Lycéen and a member of the centrist Renaissance party, called the government's offer of capped class sizes and a review of the university applications platform inadequate, and said it was scandalous that protest was the only route to being heard.
Education minister Édouard Geffray sees the danger differently. He fears the year is now at risk for final-year students who have lost weeks of lessons, and says the blockades are illegal. The headteachers' union also urged a return to class, while acknowledging that pupils had reason to feel ignored.
In Montpellier, a 53-year-old school nurse was forced to the ground, handcuffed and taken into custody near a barricade. The prefect defended the arrest, saying she had insulted and resisted officers; a Socialist senator called it misconduct and provocation.
The pressure is set to widen. University students plan more barricades, and trade unions have called a large strike for Thursday, joined by rail workers and teachers, over the cost of living and low pay. Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has agreed to meet the school students' unions next week.
On Monday morning, as French children came back from a two-week holiday, wheelie bins were dragged across the entrances of high schools in Paris and its suburbs, and in Lille, Toulouse and Marseille. Dozens of lycées were blockaded again, and outside some of them police officers tried to pull the bins away and made arrests.
The blockades have been running since September and have grown into one of the largest protest movements and social crises of Emmanuel Macron's presidency. The pupils are demanding more replacement teachers and repairs to school buildings. Student unions ignored the president's call to end the blockades when classes resumed.
How many schools were affected is disputed. The education ministry counted 41 blocked high schools, around 1% of the national total. Students' unions put the figure at 150.
One of the voices urging the pupils on belongs to a member of the president's own party. Nathanaël Combary, of the school students' union Renouveau Lycéen and also a member of Macron's centrist Renaissance party, said pupils must continue their "battle of strength" with the government. They want more funding, better access to higher education and repairs to decrepit schools. He called the measures the government offered last week, which included capping some class sizes and reviewing the university applications platform, inadequate. He told BFMTV that protest was the only way to get a government response, and that it was "a bit scandalous" in democratic terms that things had to reach this point for pupils to be heard.
The education minister, Édouard Geffray, framed the stakes differently. He said he feared the school year was now "at risk" for many students in their final years, who had missed weeks of lessons and might be unable to finish coursework or catch up on the curriculum for their exams. Hundreds of thousands of baccalauréat candidates, he said, have had no classes for four or five weeks if holidays are counted. He called the blockades illegal and said his priority was getting children back into classrooms.
Nicolas Bonnet of the headteachers' union SNPDEN-UNSA made a similar appeal. He said it was time to return to teaching and supporting pupils, and warned that coursework, final-year exams and university applications were all at risk. He added that he understood why high-school students felt the government had not offered enough to fix problems in schools, and urged more dialogue between the government and pupils.
The policing of the blockades produced its own controversy in Montpellier. Video footage showed a 53-year-old school nurse saying something to officers near a school barricade before being forced face-down to the ground, handcuffed and taken into custody. The Socialist senator Hussein Bourgi accused the government of "misconduct" and "provocation". The local prefect, who is in charge of police operations, defended the arrest, saying the woman had insulted officers and resisted police.
The pressure is set to widen. University students' unions planned additional barricades at faculties on Tuesday. Trade unions have called a large-scale strike for Thursday, with rail workers, teachers and private-sector employees expected to join demonstrations in cities across France. They are backing the pupils' demands and protesting the rising cost of living and low salaries. Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has said he will meet school students' unions again next week.
Citações Notáveis
Hundreds of thousands of baccalauréat candidates have had no classes for four or five weeks including holidays, and for them the school year is now at risk.— Édouard Geffray, education minister
It's a bit scandalous democratically that we have to reach this situation to be heard, but it's the only solution we have.— Nathanaël Combary, Renouveau Lycéen, to BFMTV
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