France

Paris, October 14, 2026. On Tuesday, October 13, the "act V" of the high school and student movement once again filled the streets, and the French press first focuses on what students say about their school. The Ministry of the Interior counts 161,500 protesters, including 41,500 in Paris across two processions, while the intersyndicale of student and high school organizations counts 480,000. France 24 recalls that the Ministry counted 71,500 people during the last national demonstrations, more than double.

The demands remain those of mid-September: "better thought-out schedules", dilapidated buildings, unreplaced teachers, and the end of Parcoursup. Lise, a terminal student at Kremlin-Bicêtre, confides to HuffPost: "I have my baccalaureate this year and still no English or physics-chemistry teacher." In the Parisian procession, Le Monde notes signs about "the lack of tables and chairs, the heat in the summer, the cold in the winter, the mold". The Union syndicale des lycéens is calling for a 10 billion euro plan for high schools.

Greta Thunberg came to the Lycée Paul-Éluard in Saint-Denis, where she declared: "They are stealing our future". Le Monde cites her message, "the whole world is watching them". BFMTV reports that she denounced an "extremely violent" police force. Sud Ouest details 36 referrals to the IGPN for alleged police violence, including four for mutilating injuries, and nearly 900 police officers and gendarmes injured, according to Laurent Nuñez. The Ministry of National Education reports 147 injured staff members and 214 closed high schools, compared to 800 a week earlier. In Paris, tear gas and water cannons were used at the end of the procession, near the Invalides, while France 24 describes a "mostly calm" day.

The battle over numbers is taking up a lot of space. Édouard Geffray speaks of a "decline", Sud Ouest notes that the processions have thinned out in Bordeaux, Pau, or Périgueux, but a sociologist describes a "founded anger, but without a political perspective". The Minister announced 3,000 replacement teachers and the Agora platform; high school students, cited by L'Obs and 20 Minutes, see this as a gesture to "give themselves a good image" and say they are being treated like children having a tantrum. RFI relays the statement from Union étudiante that 90% of the approximately 70 universities are blocked or closed, while the Ministry speaks of 35% of establishments being disrupted.

The unions are aiming for a "convergence of struggles" on October 17. France 24 situates the movement six months from the presidential election, while the government is struggling to get an austerity budget adopted.