French Student Unions Vow to Continue Protests Despite Concessions

A French youth inter-union group has called for mass protests to continue despite the government's decision to meet some demands of students and schoolchildren, European Pravda reported, citing Le Figaro.

The Student Union, the high-school students' union and other youth organisations called for the "national mobilisation" to go on after a meeting with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and the announcement of measures meant to resolve the crisis in high schools. The government's proposals include a gradual replacement of the Parcoursup university admissions platform, which high-school students opposed, and the creation of additional places in higher education. The main protests are planned for 5 November.

"We are managing to win some gains thanks to the 'mobilisation', but these are still crumbs," said Student Union spokeswoman Sabrine Harbach. "Both high-school and university students will continue the 'mobilisation'."

How the protests grew

In September, French pupils in a Paris suburb began boycotting classes, which grew into mass protests. Among other things, students complain of too few teachers, overloaded timetables, overcrowded classes and neglected school buildings. In early October local actions turned into a nationwide strike. Demonstrations covered more than a thousand educational institutions across France and began to be accompanied by violent clashes with police.

On 17 October Paris saw arson, attacks on shopkeepers and mass looting. After the wave of violence and vandalism some cities introduced or tightened curfews for minors. The French "yellow vests" movement also recently called for new demonstrations on 31 October, and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 70,000 police officers, supported by specialised units, would be deployed to prevent a repeat of last week's violence. More in Politics.