French children should continue to barricade their schools and take part in street protests, a student union said on Monday after the government announced a package of education measures to try to stem the crisis.
“Today we’re at the negotiating table, we’re able to negotiate with the government,” Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens told France Info television. “We’re in a power struggle and we still need to call for continued mobilisation to meet a maximum of our demands.”
The government told high school student representatives it would cap some class sizes and review the university application system. But Sourzat said: “We want measures, not half measures.”
More than five weeks after the start of high school blockades in September, the government made the proposals to address the demands of what has become the biggest youth protest movement in years. It has been joined by trade unions and cost-of-living protesters in regular mass street demonstrations on Saturdays.
High school pupils had demanded an end to teacher and staff shortages and for repairs to decrepit school buildings that had collapsing ceilings, mould, broken toilets, a lack of chairs and windows that did not shut.
The education minister, Édouard Geffray, said some schools were so dilapidated they were “not fit” for teaching. He announced a government loan of €4bn to regional authorities to begin repairs.
Responding to complaints of overcrowded classes, Geffray said class sizes for 15-year-olds in the first year of high school would be capped at 28 in the 50% of schools in the lowest-income areas, increasing to all high schools next year. He said more teaching posts would be created and there would be a review of the French baccaulaureate system.
The university application platform, Parcoursup, which has been described as opaque and unfair, will be changed in 2027 and replaced by a new system in 2028, according to the government. Parliament will hold a debate on the issue on Wednesday.
The higher education minister, Philippe Baptiste, said 15,000 extra student places would be created in higher education, focusing on vocational courses.
Louis Letoublon, who attended a meeting with the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on behalf of Les Lycéens, said: “Bravo to the high school students who have demonstrated. We’ve got something: the government is afraid and knows it must do something and listen to us. “Not all our demands were met. We’ll go on for as long as it takes.”
Baptiste said the government’s door was “open” for more discussions.
Several children have been maimed or seriously injured in the protests, allegedly by police explosive weapons. Hundreds of children have been arrested and held in police custody.
The authorities have increased security measures and placed restrictions on demonstrations after France saw its worst day of violence in years on 17 October, with looting, fires and vandalism of state buildings. Curfews have been put in place in certain cities, alongside protest bans. Protest routes were pushed to the outskirts of cities on Saturday when demonstrations passed off largely peacefully.
The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez-Belda, said there had been a new phenomenon in cities such as Nice and Montpellier at the weekend with ultra-right groups arriving in “organised formations” and targeting protesters. Eleven suspects are to face charges.
In a visit to Marseille on Monday, Emmanuel Macron said nationwide street protests were likely continue, and that the next day of street demonstrations on 31 October would also be a “day of risk”.
The French president said the looting and vandalism seen on 17 October should never happen again. Speaking to members of the police, he said it was “not normal” for the country to be in “such a state of turmoil” six months before a presidential election.
Macron steps down next spring and the far-right leader Marine Le Pen is leading the polls.
Macron said: “We will continue to hold the line. If we all do our jobs well, this movement will subside – because we will address legitimate expectations, and because order will be maintained. But nothing is a foregone conclusion.”
Authorities have admitted to security and intelligence failures that paved the way for the clashes on 17 October.
