‘We just want to be listened to’: student protests shut schools across France
This story was selected and curated by our editorial team in the Europe category. Published on October 2, 2026 • Originally reported by Angelique Chrisafis in Paris. OMEGAZEPRIME provides independent news coverage and analysis for our readers. Stay informed with the latest developments.
Lack of investment, overcrowded classrooms, crumbling buildings and poor teacher pay among reasons for protests by school students
As dozens of school pupils sat on top of a pile of wheelie bins blocking a high school entrance in north-eastern Paris, Sophia, 17, was on the frontline of the barricade, when she would normally have been attending Spanish class.
“We hope this grows into a massive youth protest movement,” said the final year baccalaureate student at Paris’s Lycée Voltaire, who did not want her real name published. She was on her second day of blocking the school entrance along with hundreds of others, ensuring all lessons were cancelled. “We just want to be listened to by the government. We’d rather stand here doing this than have to learn in poor conditions. It’s the only way to make ourselves heard.”
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