French high school and university student mobilization, Digi Mart USA News (France): Student unions had announced a “black day,” but after a relatively calm return to classes the previous day, 51 of 184 higher education institutions were disrupted on Tuesday, November 3, according to the Ministry of Higher Education. The figure amounts to just under one-third of institutions.
The national student union said more than half of the campuses were blocked and described the action as a “good warm-up” before a larger national mobilization planned for Thursday. That protest is expected to draw private-sector employees, public servants, retirees and students.
In Montpellier, several campuses of the university were blocked on Tuesday, including Paul-Valéry 1 and 2, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Sciences, according to the student union.
On the high school side, the government and unions reported sharply different figures. The Ministry of Education said 48 high schools out of roughly 3,700 nationwide were blocked at 9:30 a.m.
on Monday, a level it described as “quasi-stable” compared with the same time the previous day. The Union syndicale lycéenne, by contrast, counted 500 blocked establishments.
The ministry said no disruption was reported in more than three-quarters of departments and had earlier described the blockades as “a priori residual.”
Signs of waning momentum were visible in some schools. Students at the Paul-Valéry high school in Sète and the Jean-Baptiste Dumas high school in Alès did not ultimately mobilize despite a call to block their schools.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday that he was ready to meet student representatives again “next week” as they called for further days of mobilization on Tuesday and Thursday, according to Matignon. “As agreed, a slot has been scheduled at the Prime Minister’s level next week to receive high school students again,” the prime minister’s office said.
Lecornu had committed during a parliamentary debate last week to meet high school and student representatives “within 15 days” to review commitments made, obstacles to implementation and next decisions.
