As drums pounded and chants rang out across the French capital, 16-year-old Yanis stood flanked by a knot of friends near the Place de la République, rattling off the reasons why he had joined tens of thousands surging through the streets of Paris on Tuesday morning to demand better learning conditions and systemic reforms to the national education system.
​The demonstration, which began at 10:00 AM at the Place de la République, saw high schoolers, university students, and education unions march in unison along the Boulevard Voltaire toward the Place de la Nation. Protestors carried hand-painted banners reading “Education in Crisis” and “Invest in Our Classrooms, Not Cuts.”
​”We are crammed into classrooms with over 35 students, heating systems barely work in the winter, and teachers aren’t being replaced when they fall ill,” said Yanis, a sophomore at Lycée Voltaire in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. “We aren’t just marching for ourselves today; we are marching because the public education system is falling apart.”
​Tuesday’s rally comes amid nationwide mobilisation organised by student unions, including the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF) and high school coalition organizations. Organizers estimated the turnout in Paris at over 35,000 participants, with similar demonstrations unfolding simultaneously in major cities across France, including Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse.
​Key grievances voiced by student leaders and educational representatives center on overcrowding, understaffing, deteriorating school infrastructure, and recent controversial policy changes affecting higher education entry requirements.
​”The situation in our high schools and universities has reached a breaking point,” said Élise Moreau, national spokesperson for the Student Solidarity Union (Union Solidarité Étudiante), addressing journalists near the front of the march at 11:30 AM.
When students are forced to sit on floors during university lectures and high schoolers are studying in unheated rooms, government promises ring empty. We are demanding an immediate reinvestment in public education and an increase in staff hiring.”
​Education union representatives who joined the youth-led march emphasised that teacher shortages have exacerbated the strain on students.
​”Teachers and students are fighting the same battle,” stated Marc Dubois, regional representative for the FSU (Fédération Syndicale Unitaire). “Without adequate resources and competitive salaries to recruit new educators, the quality of instruction drops, and the burden falls directly on the students.”
​As the crowd reached the Place de la Nation shortly after 2:00 PM, organizers pledged further actions if the Ministry of Education does not open formal dialogue regarding their demands. Ministry officials acknowledged the demonstrations on Tuesday afternoon, stating that discussions with union representatives regarding budget allocations remain ongoing.
