Student blockades resume across Paris suburbs, police deploy tear gas amid escalating protests

After a week of tension, high-school blockades resumed on Monday across the Créteil academy, with the rectorat noting an intensifying mobilization in Val-de-Marne and Seine-Saint-Denis and a smaller rise in Seine-et-Marne. The protests, organized to demand more resources for secondary schools, have already affected 58 establishments and led to full blockades at roughly ten sites, according to Education Minister Édouard Geffray.

Demonstrators gathered in large numbers at places such as lycée Paul-Eluard in Saint-Denis, where police deployed tear-gas and reported material damage and the use of fireworks. Similar actions were observed in Orléans, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, Lille and other towns, with reports of tire and trash fires near some schools. The Union syndicale lycéenne urged students to form groups and block their schools, demanding additional teachers, reduced class sizes and an end to the Parcoursup system. Support came from La France insoumise representatives, including mayor Bally Bagayoko and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu labeled the escalation as irresponsible and warned that police would intervene if full blockades persisted.