• Analysis
French student protests: Les Lycéens vows blockades go on while talks with government continue
Leaders of the French student protests said on Monday that pupils should keep barricading their schools and joining street protests, even as their union negotiates with the government over education measures.
Negotiating table, but no let-up
Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens, the union behind the French student protests, told France Info on Monday that the movement is talking to the government and keeping up the pressure at the same time.
"Today we're at the negotiating table, we're able to negotiate with the government"
But he was clear that the talks do not mean the school barricades across France will stop.
"We're in a power struggle and we still need to call for continued mobilisation to meet a maximum of our demands."
His message to pupils was that the union wants full measures, not partial ones: "We want measures, not half measures."
What the government has offered
The government laid out a package for student representatives alongside the union's demands for repairs and smaller classes.
- •A €4bn government loan to regional authorities, announced by education minister Édouard Geffray, to begin repairs to schools
- •Class sizes for 15-year-olds in the first year of high school capped at 28 in the 50% of schools in lowest-income areas, extending to all high schools next year
- •Changes to the Parcoursup university application platform in 2027 and a new system to replace it in 2028
- •15,000 extra student places in higher education, focusing on vocational courses, according to higher education minister Philippe Baptiste
Baptiste said the government's door was "open" for more discussions.
'Not all our demands were met'
Louis Letoublon of Les Lycéens was among the representatives who met Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. He praised the pupils who have been demonstrating and said the government has been forced to engage.
"Not all our demands were met. We'll go on for as long as it takes."
According to the union, the government is afraid and knows it must listen to the students.
How long the blockades have lasted
The high school blockades began in September and had already run for more than five weeks when the proposals were made. The movement has grown into the biggest youth protest in France in years, and Saturday demonstrations have been joined by trade unions and cost-of-living protesters in regular mass street marches.
Parliament will hold a debate on Parcoursup on Wednesday, the next formal step on one of the students' core demands, while the union says mobilisation continues until more of its demands are met.
