At the end of September 2026, high school students mobilized against what they considered deteriorating study conditions. The blockade of schools, a visible and contested action, brought concrete demands to the forefront – missing teachers, overcrowded classes, dilapidated facilities – but also a broader question: how can young people make their voices heard in the public debate?
Demands related to daily school life
The movement began on September 21 at the Saint-Exupéry high school in Créteil, where teaching positions were vacant, before spreading to other schools. The Union of High School Students (USL) called for a broader mobilization on Tuesday, September 29, a day also marked by industrial action in the public sector.
In its appeal, the organization highlights the shortage of teachers and staff, the dilapidated state of some high schools, overcrowded classrooms, and the stress associated with the Parcoursup university admissions platform. These issues reflect everyday experiences: attending classes without a substitute teacher, coping with a fragmented schedule, or studying in unsuitable facilities. However, the situations and demands vary from one school to another.
Blockades, a means of protest
Closing a gate or blocking access to classes transforms a protest into an immediately visible event. This is also what makes the blockade controversial: it disrupts learning and can prevent students who want to attend classes from entering their school. The impact of the action therefore depends as much on its objective as on its consequences for other students and staff.
The figures published throughout the day on September 29th do not all paint the same picture: they vary depending on the time of day and whether they count disrupted schools, attempted blockades, or actual blockades. The Ministry also estimated the participation of the education sector in the strike that day; this figure does not correspond to the number of high schools blockaded. It is better to distinguish these indicators rather than combining them into a single report.
Between high school student speech and political co-optation
The mobilization has become embroiled in a political controversy, with some leaders accusing elected officials of encouraging or exploiting it. This discussion alone is insufficient to establish that the demands are dictated from the outside. Rather, it serves as a reminder that a student movement is often interpreted on two levels: what the students say about their school life, and how adults project their presence in the streets onto them.
Social media accelerates the spread of calls and images, but a shared video or leaflet alone does not constitute a reliable assessment of the movement. To understand what is happening, we must return to the demands formulated locally and distinguish between the positions taken by organizations, the statements of political leaders, and the data released by the authorities.
A movement that is set to continue
In a press release published on September 29, the USL and the Student Union called for further blockades on Thursday, October 1, followed by a demonstration on Tuesday, October 6. These dates are those announced by the organizations: they do not prejudge the scale of the mobilization or the response from the institutions.
The blockades of high schools thus highlight a familiar tension in democratic life: how to make a collective demand heard without depriving others of access to classes? The answer lies neither in images of closed gates nor in political clashes. It also involves a concrete examination of the problems raised and the role given to high school students in the discussions that concern them.
Main source: Arts: podcasts on arts news and entertainment (www.radiofrance.fr)
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