PARIS: High school student representatives meeting with government officials have acknowledged receiving “concrete announcements” while simultaneously calling for “continued mobilisation”, as the French administration moves to overhaul the deeply criticised Parcoursup higher education admissions platform.
According to France24, the developments came to light after education-focused social media influencers met with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu at midday on Monday, ahead of his formal consultations with broader youth and student organisations.
According to details emerging from the discussions, the government intends to replace the controversial admissions portal, which has faced severe backlash and heavy criticism from high school students since the onset of the current nationwide protest movement, in two distinct phases over the course of the current academic year and the next.
Following the midday talks, Minister of Education Edouard Geffray and Minister of Higher Education Philippe Baptiste are scheduled to outline the formal, “concrete” reform package during a press conference.
This comes after France24 reported that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is scheduled to meet with high school student unions before hosting a high-stakes news conference as the government moves to de-escalate nationwide demonstrations over high school admissions reforms and the rising cost of living.
The upcoming talks precede a non-binding debate in the National Assembly regarding the future of high school orientation and university placement. Held under Article 50-1 of the French Constitution, the parliamentary session will allow lawmakers to table proposals without taking a formal vote, as the administration outlines a two-phase plan to overhaul and replace the controversial Parcoursup admissions portal over the current and next academic years.
🇫🇷 France offers students smaller classes, 15,000 new university places and an end to Parcoursup. The students say it is not enough and call new protests for Oct. 31 and Nov. 5
France’s government tried on Monday to defuse the student revolt that kicked off this autumn’s wave of unrest. After meetings with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, Education Minister Edouard Geffray and Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste announced a package: Parcoursup, the national university admissions platform students call opaque and unfair, will be replaced for the 2028 intake, with clearer criteria and an explanation for every rejection in 2027. First-year high school classes will be capped at 28 pupils, starting in 2027 in the least advantaged half of high schools and everywhere in 2028. The government promised 15,000 extra higher-education places over 2027 and 2028, 10,000 of them in two-year technical programmes.
There is money attached, though much of it is loans and multi-year pledges. The package includes a 4 billion euro envelope of preferential loans to regions for school renovation through 2030, 1 billion euros for university campuses through 2029, and student grants indexed to inflation from 2027. The government says it will cancel planned secondary-school job cuts and add 500 teaching posts in the 2027 budget bill. “These commitments are costed, funded, with deadlines known to all,” Baptiste said in the ministry’s statement.
Students were unmoved. “Not all our demands have been satisfied, and we will see this through to the end,” said Louis Letoublon of the high school group Les Lyceens!, calling for new protests on Oct. 31 and Nov. 5, Politico reported. The national university union UNEF said the government was “once again missing the point.” Students have asked for up to 250,000 extra places, according to Politico, so the government’s offer falls far short of their headline demand.
Why it matters beyond France: the school blockades were among the first sparks of a broader movement that turned into cost-of-living protests and then riots, with hundreds of arrests on the last two weekends. A rejected offer and a call to march on Halloween weekend set up another test for Lecornu’s fragile government, which still has to pass a 2027 budget. Many of these promises depend on that budget.
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Confirming the government’s intention to address grievances, President Emmanuel Macron stated that the prime minister will unveil “strong measures” to quiet the ongoing unrest. “I have also asked the government to respond to the legitimate demands that lie at the root of this social movement,” Macron told reporters on Monday during a visit to Marseille, according to France 24.
Describing the crisis as “a social and political mobilisation rooted, on the one hand, in the high school student protests, and on the other, in the high cost of living,” Macron acknowledged that French authorities had “not anticipated at all” the massive scale of the demonstrations that broke out the previous week.
Addressing security concerns following unrest on October 17, when demonstrators briefly stormed Marseille’s city hall, Macron warned that another round of demonstrations planned for this coming weekend could escalate. “Next Saturday is expected to be another risky day,” Macron warned, adding that designated march routes would be kept outside urban centres to maintain order.
Following a meeting with Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan, Macron emphasised that state security forces would maintain stability without resorting to emergency measures, though he did not rule out extraordinary steps if conditions worsen. “We are upholding the Republic and public order today without a state of emergency”, Macron said, noting that implementing one remained an option if “things were to deteriorate”.
The French president also directed criticism at social media platforms, accusing them of fueling street violence and looting by steering demonstrators toward confrontation. “Social media is damaging our democracies,” Macron declared, describing digital networks as “tools for mobilising the worst impulses.” He noted that platforms were used during the October 17 demonstrations “to bring young and not-so-young people to places where criminal acts, attacks and looting were taking place.”
Earlier, French authorities arrested 1,314 individuals across the country over the weekend as violence erupted alongside mass demonstrations against the high cost of living. The clashes marked the second consecutive weekend of widespread unrest as the country prepares for presidential elections scheduled for April and May to determine a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, who is reaching his two-term limit.
France24, citing figures released by the interior ministry on Sunday, said that 53 officers were injured in the clashes as law enforcement officers faced significant friction during the demonstrations.
While the ministry statement did not specify the total number of injured demonstrators, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke late Saturday of “two serious injuries among protesters: one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand”.
The interior ministry detailed that police were forced to respond to 75 fires ignited during Saturday’s protests, while 24 shops were looted, according to France24.
Following the afternoon violence, the ministry issued a statement confirming that “several investigations have been opened,” without providing additional details, while noting that the remainder of Saturday night was “calm” after the confrontations had subsided.
This comes as Europe is reeling under a fresh wave of protests as people march over the rising cost of living, pensions, housing, education, corruption and opposition to war. Groups across Albania, Italy, Spain and Portugal also held demonstrations in multiple cities, leading to clashes between protesters and police. (ANI)
