PARIS — Les Lycéens! expects blockades at some French high schools to begin Monday, Nov. 2, when students return from a two-week break, with the group anticipating more activity from Tuesday.
Pierre Sourzat, head of Les Lycéens!, said in a Sunday interview on RMC that “some high schools will be blocked as early as tomorrow,” according to an English translation of his remarks. He was describing the group’s expectation; he did not identify schools where disruption would occur.
The Union syndicale lycéenne and Union Étudiante have separately called for high school and university blockades on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Thursday, Nov. 5. Their schedule differs from the action Les Lycéens! expects to start Monday.
France’s Interior Ministry counted 320,000 demonstrators nationwide on Saturday, Oct. 31. A youth inter-union coalition estimated nearly 500,000, Le Monde reported. The Associated Press reported that student complaints about school facilities, teacher shortages and access to higher education broadened to include anger over living costs.
France’s Ministry of National Education plans to cap first-year general and technological high school classes at 28 students. The cap is due to start in 2027 at the least-favored half of public high schools and extend to all public high schools the following year. The ministry also plans to add 15,000 higher education places between 2027 and 2028 and replace Parcoursup for the 2028 admissions cycle.
Sourzat said the government’s measures did not go far enough. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the National Assembly on Oct. 28 that the government had to give young people “concrete reasons to believe your efforts will open doors,” in an English translation of his remarks.
The renewed calls follow a government consultation and earlier school blockades, covered in EconoTimes’ report on France’s student consultation. The government said it received more than 100,000 contributions from nearly 3,000 high schools. A committee including students and teachers is expected to issue its first recommendations on replacing Parcoursup by the end of November.
