French Student Protests Resume on Smaller Scale After Two-Week Break

French high school students resumed protests on Monday after a two-week break, but demonstrations remained much smaller than in previous weeks.

French media reported attempts to blockade a handful of schools in Paris, Marseille and Rennes. Police officers were present at several locations, although television footage showed they were not wearing full anti-riot gear.

Before the break, students had blockaded hundreds of France’s more than 3,000 high schools. The protests began in the Paris suburbs in September before spreading nationwide.

Protests Expand Beyond Education

The demonstrations initially focused on conditions in schools and the education system. They later broadened to include concerns about the cost of living, attracting trade unionists and activists.

Some protests also turned violent. Last month, clashes with police and riots broke out in several French cities. Shops were looted, creating a major challenge for President Emmanuel Macron’s minority government.

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France’s unrest forms part of a wider wave of so-called “Gen Z” protests across Europe. Demonstrations have also taken place in Germany, Italy, Belgium and Albania.

Participants have raised concerns about living costs, deteriorating school conditions and perceived corruption.

Education Minister Says Blockades Remain Limited

Education Minister Edouard Geffray described Monday’s school blockades as limited in scale.

“ In terms of blockades — or rather, attempted blockades — the phenomenon is very marginal. We’re talking about just a handful of units, a few individual schools,” he told France Inter radio.

Geffray said students had the right to protest. However, he stressed that preventing access to schools was illegal.

Government Offers Education Reforms

Students are demanding renovations to ageing schools, more teachers and additional university places. They also want to replace the university admissions system, which they consider socially unfair.

Last week, Geffray proposed several measures to address their concerns. These include limiting class sizes to 28 students and allocating €4 billion for school renovations.

He also offered to create 15,000 additional higher education places and introduce a new university admissions system by 2028.

However, high school student representatives said the proposals did not go far enough. They pledged to continue their demonstrations.

The scale of Monday’s protests was significantly smaller than before the school break. However, student representatives have signalled that the dispute over education reforms remains unresolved.