Third day of national action by secondary school pupils and students in France

Around thirty demonstrations by secondary school, university students, parents, teachers and trade unionists are planned for Tuesday afternoon in France.

This new day of protests on was described by the Union syndicale lycéenne as ‘Act III’ of the campaign.

These protesters are calling for more staff and funding for the national education system. They are criticising overcrowded classrooms, the failure to replace teachers, overloaded timetables, the poor state of school buildings and classrooms, and inequalities linked to the Parcoursup university admissions system.

There is a sense of anger, but the priority for some secondary school pupils met before the Paris march set off is to hold peaceful rallies.

"We really do need to distinguish between the rioters and the school pupils", declared one of them.

Lessons suspended in 891 out of 3,700 schools

"We’re taking part in the protests, just like 99 per cent of secondary school pupils in France, who are staging peaceful demonstrations and who genuinely want to be heard, to be taken seriously, and not just to be singled out as rioters", she added.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, around 86,000 demonstrators were counted in the marches that set off in the morning. In Paris, the march has started early afternoon. Between 20,000 and 40,000 people could be gathering.

These protests are taking place against a backdrop of tension. The Minister for Education, Édouard Geffray, has stated that since the start of the protests, 85 members of teaching staff have been injured, as have 215 pupils and 715 members of the police force.

Lessons were suspended “either completely or partially” in 891 schools out of the 3,700 across the country.