Thousands of teenagers across France have barricaded high schools, forcing closures and leading to arrests, in protests against what they say is an underfunded and neglected education system. The movement has caught the government by surprise and is threatening to continue into next week.
Students voice grievances
In north-eastern Paris, dozens of pupils sat on top of wheelie bins blocking the entrance to a high school. Sophia, 17, a final-year baccalaureate student at Lycée Voltaire, was on the frontline of the barricade instead of attending Spanish class. "We hope this grows into a massive youth protest movement," she said, noting she was on her second day of blocking the school entrance. "We just want to be listened to by the government. We'd rather stand here doing this than have to learn in poor conditions. It's the only way to make ourselves heard."
Signs at the protest read "School is a right, not a privilege." Students listed grievances including a lack of state investment in education, overcrowded classes of up to 40 children in crumbling buildings, poor teacher pay, staff absences, and an unequal system where social background determines success. They also cited the opaque online system for university applications and unbearable classroom temperatures during heatwaves in May and June.
Government response and injuries
The French government is struggling to deal with its worst crisis in months after being taken by surprise by the demonstrations. Hundreds of high schools were closed or barricaded on Friday, and hundreds of young people have been arrested. Students have accused police of using excessive force, including firing teargas canisters to disperse protests. In Paris on Friday morning, fire damaged the entrances of two high schools: Léonard de Vinci in the south and Gaston-Bachelard in the south-east.
The education ministry said 65 education staff were injured, including 40 school principals. An investigation is under way after a 14-year-old boy in Val d'Oise suffered serious injuries to his mouth and jaw after police allegedly beat him and fired a form of rubber-bullet launcher. The family's lawyer said the boy had thought he was "going to die."
Calm barricades and broader concerns
Outside Lycée Voltaire, riot police stood guard amid a quiet demonstration by hundreds of children. Yves, 17, a final-year pupil who did not want his name published, said the atmosphere was "generally very calm," though some outsiders had tried to set fire to things. "Yesterday I heard bangs going off every two minutes, it's loud and scary when things are being fired horizontally and not up into the air," he said.
Camille, 18, who wants to become a teacher, said pupils were also protesting over France's poor results in international education rankings. "France has disastrous results and yet we're one of the countries with the longest school days," she said. "The government refuses to see that it's about quality, not the number of teaching hours."
At Lycée Hélène Boucher, students sang and held signs of support for people in Gaza, as well as banners against far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. Sofiane, 19, a literature student, said students feared the government would scrap its special €1 meals for struggling students and reduce housing welfare aid. He noted it was "unbearable sitting exams in 35C-40C heat," and that demonstrations were likely to continue. "Young people just want to study and learn in decent conditions," he said.
