Thousands of students, teachers, and union representatives have started this afternoon in Paris a new day of protests to maintain pressure on the Government and demand an immediate reform of secondary education. The mobilization takes place just hours before the National Assembly begins what all political forces anticipate as a very tough debate on the state budgets for 2027.
The march started at 2:30 PM from the City Hall of Paris, once the corresponding authorization was obtained, and travels along the Quai de la Mégisserie amidst banners and chants. "Even if the State doesn't want us, here we are," journalists from "Le Monde" on site report, for a protest called last week that adds to three consecutive weeks of mobilizations. Among the attendees, the presence of climate activist Greta Thunberg stands out.
The student unions demand a profound transformation of secondary education, from reducing the number of students per classroom to, above all, a complete review of the university access system (Parcoursup), heavily criticized for the enormous "bottleneck" of admission requests it generates and for the workload it imposes on teachers, who are forced to review thousands of files.
The general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, has declared to FranceInfo that "this mobilization is the symbol of the balance of ten years of macronism" and has warned that the country is "on the brink of rupture" and in a climate of "immense anger."
Binet has urged students to resume protests next weekend, which is expected to be especially tense, as on Sunday the 18th the "yellow vests" will again demonstrate to commemorate the fifth anniversary of their massive marches in 2011 against the rise in fuel prices. In addition, the union leader has called for a general strike on November 5.
From the Government, they maintain that social dissent is losing strength, although the latest official report from the Ministry of Education counts 214 closed schools. In its statement, the department emphasizes, however, that episodes of violence are increasing. Yesterday, 20 workers from the National Education were injured, including five school directors, the second highest daily record of injuries since the beginning of the movement.