France. Students start a new day of mobilization with some incidents

Mtension and some incidents were recorded this morning during the start of another day of mobilization of student organizations in France, the French authorities said.

According to the Ministry of Education, out of about 3,700 secondary schools in France, 49 establishments – 1.3% – were blocked early this morning, while in three quarters of the territory there was no disturbance.

One of the places where incidents occurred was in Chelles, east of Paris, where a vice-president of the House, who was in front of a school to try a mediation aimed at the resumption of classes, was soaked with gasoline by a young man.

In Aix-en-Provence (Sudeste), an apparently criminal fire damaged part of the interior of a school that has been blocked several times since the beginning of the student movement, but so far a direct link has not been established with the social protest movement.

In the Rhône department, 13 secondary schools and Lyon University 2 remain closed, and the lessons are taught remotely, which did not prevent the execution of protests in front of seven establishments early in the morning.

Some 200 protesters met in the morning in front of a school in Lyon, with two young people suffering minor injuries when security forces used tear gas in response to the launch of petards. Two people were arrested, according to the municipality.

In Rennes, Rennes University 2 — an important bastion of student challenge, where police intervened on Monday night to put an end to a blockade — remained closed today, in a climate of “great tension”, the rectory of the institution said.

According to the French Government, about 300 education professionals have been injured since the start of the movement of secondary school students in mid-September.

In addition to blocking the educational institutions and an appeal to strike by teachers, demonstrations are planned in most major cities of France for this new day of mobilization through an inter-union appeal.

The march in Paris — which, according to an internal document of the information services consulted by the AFP news agency, is expected to gather between 2,000 and 4,000 people — was scheduled to start at 14:00 (13:00 in Lisbon).

In Lyon, about 2,000 young people and teachers gathered at the end of the morning in a square outside the city's main centre for an authorized demonstration.

In Marseille, a group of about 100 people, half of whom were high school students, started a march at the end of the morning.

In an attempt to calm the movement, the French Government announced two weeks ago a gradual transformation of the ‘Parcoursup’ school guidance platform — the target of many criticisms — from 2027 onwards, providing for its total replacement in 2028.

The government also promised additional investments in school infrastructure and new resources for institutions facing major difficulties.

But the first meeting of the ‘Parcoursup’ reform committee, held on Monday, was interrupted abruptly. The vast majority of student organizations and the union coalition in the area of education abandoned the meeting, protesting the presence of representatives of the far right and the patronage, criticizing the lack of new responses by the government.

The day is also part of a broader context of mobilization in the public service: an inter-union call called on Monday to strike on November 17, demanding wage increases, among other demands, with the CGT inviting “all workers, pensioners and young people” to mobilize.