Why the student protests in France and the government’s response are unprecedented and unpredictable

0 October 7, 2026 12:11

Student outcry against the limited means of France’s education system is nothing new, but the global context and the nature of the movement which began in the suburbs are, and so is the government’s initial, confrontational reaction.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

The mass nationwide movement led by high school students, joined by their parents, teachers and trade unions, brought together 450,000 protesters on October 6 (250,000, according to the French government).
French lycée students’ demands for better resources and conditions in schools are recurrent, but what’s new is the global context, the nature of the movement and where it started out: in France’s working suburbs.
The government’s response, which first opted for confrontation before favouring negotiations, has created an explosive situation whose outcome is very uncertain.

The mobilisation behind the high schoolers’ movement that began in the Paris suburbs in September 2026 is incontinuity with the back-to-school action that secondary education has been experiencing, in response to situations that are deemed to have worsened (absent teachers, overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated premises, etc.) – in a cyclical manner since the end of the 1970s, contrasting with the type of “Spring” uprisings that characterised May 68.

In 1978 it was already noted that what had previously characterised technical secondary schools and vocational colleges (commonly known in France as ‘LT and CET’) had become a general problem for all high schools in the country.

The school year of 1978 turned out to be a calamity, with overcrowded classes and a lack of teachers and staff. In Seine-Saint-Denis in the northern suburbs of Paris, there were doubts over whether school would ever be resumed. From September 15, with the backing of parent associations and many local elected officials, teachers at high schools in Saint-Denis and Noisy-le-Sec went on strike calling for new teaching positions and classes to be opened. For the first time since May-June 1968, establishments in France were occupied day and night, particularly schools in Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, Montreuil, (Greater Paris’ Seine-Saint-Denis Department).“

These recurring issues also gave rise to student uprisings in 1990 and 1998, leading then to significant measures that were considered victories. Movements occurring in the autumn have also affected high school students, but on other topics such as pension reform, the focus of a movement in 2010.

What is unprecedented in the autumn 2026 mobilisation is first and foremost the global context, with a war in Eastern Europe accompanied by an increase in military budgets that contrasts with a chronic shortfall in funding for education, a climate crisis that is impacting poorly insulated schools where high school students suffer from extreme heat and the prospect of a far right presidential win in 2027. This last challenge may have been experienced as an ‘existential threat’ by many high school students in working-class suburbs where the movement started out.

How can students make their voices heard?

To assert their demands, the options students have for taking action are limited. High school representation exists in law (students sit on boards of directors and within national institutions with the French Ministry for Education) but with little scope.

Apart from not being a right that high school students are entitled to, going on strike is simply time off and by no means a pressure tactic (a high school strike does not bother anyone and does not stop any production). As a result, for a high school movement to have any clout, deserting the classroom is not enough; students also need to make themselves seen, heard and media-friendly.

It is worth noting the shift in vocabulary over the last few decades. “Picket” has been replaced by “block,” or“blockade”, especially since the high school movement against the Fillon law in 2005. The general assemblies that were held in high schools, deciding on strike pickets (“filtering” pickets or “blockading” pickets) have become more difficult to organise, especially when administrations do not allow them, sometimes simply because of the lack of classrooms. From now on, upper secondary establishments and administrations no longer talk about lycées on strike but are counting the number of ‘blockaded lycées’.

To be visible, students therefore need to resort to spectacular action. Like every social group, high schoolers use what’s available to them: trash cans to blockade or slow down human traffic in front of high schools, holding demonstrations in their neighbourhood or town – with prohibitive measures somewhat getting in the way, this is admittedly more difficult – calling on public figures (elected officials, for example) likely to attract the curiosity of the media, protest signs, etc.

It is within this context that the issue of violence comes into play. While we wait for more specific information about the profiles of the youngsters arrested, we do know that the vast majority of them are minors. But are they high school students or young people who have left, or been excluded, from the education system? The circumstances, the alleged facts, may differ from one individual to another.

In the meantime, it’s worth recalling that in the early days of May 68 in Paris’ Latin Quarter, there were a significant number of young workers who stood alongside students to seek revenge on the police for humiliating them on their council housing estates and in their neighbourhoods by the police, according to French sociologist Gérard Mauger.

The current crisis blends the characteristics of high school student uprisings with those of the “proto-political unrest”, which happened across France’s suburbs – notably in 2005. Let us note that the term “suburban youth” extends to high school students and other students, sometimes unemployed or living in precarity. Their actions and reactions target their places of study, work, and where they live. High school demonstrations are also places where people come together at a local level.

The government’s response

What is also singular is the way in which the public authorities have ignored the situation, while shortages of resources and staff are regularly reported, and once again this autumn, by teachers’ unions.

If governments in France since 2017 have experienced unprecedented conflicts, such as the Yellow Vest movement, the Sainte-Soline environmental protest rally (against a huge water reserve), urban unrest, high school or student uprisings are recurrent, they are likely to be resolved through negotiation. However, since 2016 (French Labour Law), the reaction of “firmness” by the powers that have seemingly become the norm, at the risk of violent clashes, making it dangerous to be present at protests – even though they are legal. When applied to teenagers, it clearly appears disproportionate and dangerous.

It seems that, after ignoring the scale of the problems at hand, the choice of repression has prevailed. It was the French Interior Ministry that came to the fore, favouring mass closures of establishments nationwide. France had experienced some exceptional closures following past student movements, but never on such a scale.

After releasing a statement claiming ‘political hijacking’ of the movement by France’s far-left party LFI due to the party’s show of strong support and the presence of its elected representatives outside institutions (while other parties did the same), the government’s rhetoric finally admitted that students’ demands were legitimate. Undoubtedly, the public opinion in France, approving the legitimacy of the demands being made by high school students will have strengthened the movement but also the scale – as well as their good behaviour – of the October 6 demonstrations. The unions announced 450,000 protesters, whereas the Ministry estimated 250,000 demonstrators nationwide.

But, when there’s negotiation, power dynamics come into play. What was possible before the student movement to try and “calm the situation” is proving insufficient today, especially as the mobilisation has been maintained and extended, and since the threat of an extension to students and a junction with other forms of discontent weighs heavily on the government. On social media, that is widely used by young people, many references are not only being made to protests with other unions but to October 17 – a movement marking the return of the Yellow Vests. Somehow the bids are rising.
Robi Morder is a member of the French Higher Education trade union SNESup, and the non-profit Association autogestion, RESU.

Tags: Academic Journalism, The Conversation, The Conversation Academic News