French student protests continue amid deadlock over education reforms

Students and teachers are planning a new day of strikes and demonstrations Tuesday, as talks with the government remain deadlocked, nearly two months after the start of protests by high school and university students. Issued on: 10/11/2026 - 07:59 2 min Reading time “This is the time to step up the mobilisation and continue putting pressure on the government,” wrote a coalition of student organisations and teachers unions, calling for the strike, on Saturday. Demonstrations are planned in most of France’s major cities. In Paris, a march will leave off from the Panthéon at 2pm and head towards Place d’Italie. French students vow to continue protests Some teachers are expected to be on strike, said Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of the Snes-FSU teachers’ union, notably in some areas, though participation is expected to be lower than last week, on 5 November, when nearly 16 percent of teachers went on strike, according to the Education Ministry. “The balance of power is on our side, and we must keep going. I am not saying we have won anything, but I am saying we are on the right track,” said Ryad Rani, president of the USL secondary school students’ union on Monday evening, after the first meeting of the committee set up to reform Parcoursup, the national university admissions platform. Students walk out on Prime Minister The meeting with the Prime Minister ended prematurely after a number of student and teachers’ organisations walked out in protest against the presence of right week representatives, far right lawmakers and employers’ organisations. The groups criticised the attendance of student union UNI, which describes itself as the leading right wing student movement, as well as Thierry Tesson, a far right National Rally MP and Gaëlle Frontoni, a senator for the right wing UDR. “We want to make it absolutely clear that we will never sit in a room with the far right, with people responsible for spreading racist, fascist and hateful ideas,” Manon Moret, General Secretary of Unef, the French national union of students, told reporters. Student unions also objected to the influence given to employers’ organisations. “We refuse to let higher education be reformed around the needs of businesses. Young people are the ones who need to be heard,” said Eloïse Lefebvre-Milon, co-general secretary of Union étudiante. Parcoursup is at the heart of the protests, with students continuing to demand it be scrapped. The government announced a revision of the platform two weeks ago, ahead of its planned replacement in 2028. Organisations representing schools also walked out of the meeting. “The government is incapable of offering a new response to students and education staff,” said Vénétitay. Podcast: France's student protests and how they fuelled a larger social movement Making up missed lessons Meanwhile, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said on Monday that students who have missed lessons because of the protests could be offered catch-up classes during school holidays, Such classes already exist, but they will be expanded into school holidays in February and at Easter, to make up for teaching time lost during the student protests, Geffray said in an interview with public broadcaster France 2. School representatives rejected the proposal, questioning how the government would recruit enough volunteer teachers to work during their holidays. Geffray also confirmed that the dates of the baccalauréat examinations would remain unchanged. (with newswires)