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Paris, France, Nov 3, 2026 (AFP) — College students blockaded dozens of excessive faculties throughout France on Tuesday to take care of strain on the federal government over schooling reforms as commerce unions ready for a nationwide strike later this week.
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After getting back from a two-week autumn break on Monday, some college students resumed their protest marketing campaign, calling on authorities to renovate dilapidated faculties, cut back class sizes and create extra college locations.
Authorities stated 48 out of France’s 3,700 excessive faculties had been blocked, together with in cities corresponding to Paris, Rennes, Toulouse and Lyon. The Union syndicale lyceenne (USL) contested these figures, saying 500 institutions had been blocked.
The coed union denounced what it referred to as heavy-handed ways, with “younger folks pinned towards partitions and riot police items deployed” outdoors faculties.
“Our impression is that the target is to suppress the motion and stop Thursday’s mobilization,” a union consultant instructed AFP.
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On Thursday, college students plan to stage a brand new day of blockades as commerce unions referred to as for a nationwide strike.
Within the northwestern metropolis of Rennes, round 30 college students blocked entry to the Brequigny Excessive College, one of many nation’s largest secondary faculties.
Tensions shortly flared between college students and a member of the varsity administration.
“You aren’t the bulk,” the workers member protested.
“If we’re doing this, it’s as a result of all the things we’ve tried earlier than hasn’t labored,” a scholar replied.
The college protests have fuelled a nationwide motion towards hovering costs and insufficient public companies, which has drawn a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals onto the streets over the previous three weekends and led to a number of the worst unrest seen in France in years on October 17.
The college motion has additionally impressed college students in different European nations, together with Belgium, Italy and Spain, the place the French phrase “blocus” (blockade) has grow to be a preferred hashtag.
Final week, the French authorities unveiled measures geared toward addressing a number of the college students’ calls for, together with reforms to the college admissions course of, which has been criticized for an absence of transparency. Scholar leaders, nevertheless, say the proposals don’t go far sufficient.
On Monday, authorities stated 42 excessive faculties, or round 1 p.c of the nationwide complete, had been blocked. Scholar unions put the determine at 169.
About 15 p.c of upper schooling establishments had been affected on Monday, authorities stated.
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