Limited French school protests resume as holidays end

PARIS: French students returning from autumn holidays blocked some high schools on Monday (Nov 2), determined to reinvigorate a protest movement despite government concessions during the break.

Just 1 percent of France’s 3,700 high schools for 15 to 18-year-olds called lycees were blockaded, the education ministry said.

Pupils maintained their protest after hundreds of thousands of people, including students, took to the streets across France on Saturday for a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations.

The cost-of-living rallies emerged after high school students launched nationwide demonstrations in September over learning conditions and inequality.

The government has announced measures, including changing the university admissions process, ensuring more teachers and capping the number of pupils per class.

But some students say it is not enough.

In the southern city of Marseille, several garbage bins were stacked in front of the entrance to one high school on Monday morning. 

“We’ve resumed the movement because we were supposedly given answers, but … it’s clearly not enough,” 16-year-old Meriem told AFP, perched on one of the dumpsters.