French school blockades to restart from Nov 2: Student group

PARIS – The head of a student group said a campaign of high school blockades would restart from Nov 2, adding the government’s proposals did not go far enough.

On Oct 31, hundreds of thousands of people, including high school and university students, took to the streets across France for a third consecutive weekend of protests.

Some high schools will be blockaded from Nov 2, when students return from a two-week holiday, said Pierre Sourzat, head of the “Lyceens!” group.

“It will be more significant from Tuesday, but we know that some schools will be blocked as early as tomorrow,” he told broadcaster RMC on Nov 1.

“We support all our comrades who are blocking their schools from tomorrow,” he added.

France’s protest movement against soaring prices emerged from weeks of demonstrations by high school students protesting deteriorating learning conditions and inequality.

On Oct 26, the government announced a series of measures aimed at addressing student protesters’ demands, including replacing the university admissions platform and providing loans for school renovations.

Students said the proposals did not go far enough.

On Oct 31, Sabrine Kharbach, spokeswoman for the Union Etudiante (Student Union), said blockades of universities and high schools would take place on Nov 2 and 4.

President Emmanuel Macron has called for classes to resume in a calm manner, arguing that “young people have been heard”.

Sourzat countered that “the president hasn’t listened to us”.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” he said. “There’s a bit of polish on the surface, but once you scratch beneath it, there’s nothing there.”

Sourzat said the proposed overhaul of the university admissions platform, long criticised for its lack of transparency, failed to address the shortage of places in higher education.

He also dismissed the government’s plan to reduce class sizes as insufficient, noting that it would apply only to 10th-grade classes.

“We were asking for all year groups,” he said.

With the euro zone’s second-largest economy on the brink of recession and under pressure to rein in its debt, the government has limited scope to appease student protesters through additional spending. AFP