Paris students resume school blockades on Monday as classes return, with a Tuesday march and a Thursday national strike to follow

French high-school students resumed school blockades on Monday, the day classes returned after the All Saints' break. In Paris, Val-de-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine, high-school and university organisations called for schools and universities to be blocked, and blockades took place outside several schools on Monday morning.

The Les Lycéens! movement called for blockades from Monday's return to class, while the Union syndicale lycéenne (USL) and the Union étudiante jointly called for high schools and universities to be blocked on Tuesday and again on Thursday. USL president Ryad Rani described a two-stage strategy: general assemblies on Monday, followed by blockades from Tuesday, 'for as long as necessary.'

What students are demanding

Students' demands have not changed since September: more teachers, replacements for absent teachers, smaller classes and a proper plan to renovate school buildings, with final-year students particularly critical of the Parcoursup university admissions platform. On October 26, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced a two-stage overhaul of Parcoursup — initial improvements for the 2027 admissions cycle, followed by a new system in 2028 — alongside a €5 billion plan to renovate high schools and universities, smaller classes and more places in higher education.

Student groups say those measures are insufficient: the shortage of university places is unresolved, and the class-size reduction so far applies only to seconde (10th-grade) classes. Before the holidays, more than 160 high schools in the Île-de-France region had to close entirely or partially on the busiest days; neither the ministry nor the regional government has yet released official figures for schools blocked this Monday.

What comes next this week

On Tuesday, a student demonstration is planned in Paris, due to set off from Place du Panthéon and head to the Medef employers' federation headquarters on Avenue Bosquet, a route of about 5 km that has yet to be confirmed by the Paris Police Prefecture. On Thursday, the inter-union coalition (CFDT, CGT, FO, Unsa and FSU) has called a cross-sector strike over wages, pensions and public services. President Emmanuel Macron has called for classes to resume calmly, saying young people have been heard by the authorities.

(The photo is a file image of a French student protest, not a photo from this Monday.)