High-school mobilisation in France: where did it begin and why did it spread?
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From missing posts in Créteil to a mobilisation over studies, guidance and inequality: the origins, stages, mechanisms of spread and government responses explained.
In this article
01 | The essentials in 30 seconds
In autumn 2026, the mobilisation spreads from concrete difficulties in studying. Several accounts place an initial focus at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil, near Paris. The movement is not limited to opposing a single law.
- Start: a local protest linked in particular to missing posts.
- Spread: schools facing similar problems join common days.
- Next: adult support and challenges to some police interventions are added to the school demands.
02 | An initial focus in Créteil, near Paris
The Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil, in Val-de-Marne, is cited as a focus of the mobilisation that became national. A local text of 20 September reports vacant posts: teachers, a deputy head, a nurse and social assistance. It describes staff joined by pupils. This testimony comes from a political support group; JAPANITIES has not itself verified the school’s staffing.
03 | Why distinguish 17, 18 and 21 September?
According to the CGT Ville de Paris, teachers strike on the 17th, final-year students blockade the school on the 18th and the action resumes on the 21st. The local text of 20 September confirms a mobilisation before the 21st. The date often cited therefore does not sum up the whole beginning. Nor does it establish that this school hosted the very first protest in France.
04 | Four sets of demands
The demands presented in the inter-union call can be grouped into four sets. Priorities vary: not all participants necessarily defend every demand.
- Having lessons: filling posts and ensuring replacements.
- Studying in good conditions: premises and support staff.
- Better organising schooling: sustainable days and study conditions.
- Preparing the future: access to higher education and inequalities between backgrounds and regions.
05 | The main stages
This chronology shows the move from local actions to common dates. It does not list every event of each day.
- 17–21 September: staff strike and pupil blockade in Créteil.
- 29 September: move to a national day.
- 6 October: mobilisation with students, parents and staff.
- 8 October: announcement of the deployment of about 3,000 teachers.
- 13 October: new call to mobilise.
06 | The spread: difficulties recognised elsewhere
Our reading of the sources highlights problems in which other pupils may recognise themselves. A lack of lessons or run-down premises is not a distant story if you meet a similar difficulty. Union calls link these situations to education as a whole. This does not mean all schools are in the same situation: needs differ by place.
07 | Networks: seeing, sharing, organising
Networks let people see other schools, relay demands and discuss an action. Le Ch’ni cross-checked videos from Besançon; BFMTV devoted an episode to online organisation. This visibility does not guarantee the truth of each post. It is not enough to say that networks alone created the movement or that one person directed it everywhere.
08 | Supporters and common days
Parents and staff give other relays to school concerns. The FCPE calls on parents to take part; the education unions organise a common day on 13 October. One must, however, distinguish pupils’ demands from those of employees on jobs and pay. They overlap without being identical. A common date lets these different groups mobilise together.
09 | Why are police interventions debated?
Alongside school demands come concerns about interventions and injuries. Euronews gathers on 6 October testimonies criticising the police response. The government, for its part, stresses certain violent acts and damage. Peaceful participants, violence and each intervention must be examined separately. The number of arrests is not a number of convictions.
10 | Does political support prove total control?
Le Monde reports the support of left-wing elected officials and the confrontation with the government. Supporting, politicising the debate and organising all the actions are three different claims. The local testimony describes demands from staff and pupils. The presence of a party is not enough to establish each person’s motives or the organisation of all the actions.
11 | The responses announced by the government
The ministry opens an Agora consultation until 23 October and identifies five workstreams: lessons, premises, organisation of days, transparency of Parcoursup and follow-up to pupils’ voices. On 8 October, the minister also announces about 3,000 teachers to be deployed. According to LCP, these are mainly staff without assignment, with extra recruitment announced separately: not 3,000 new hires already made.
12 | Why continue after the announcements?
The unions consider that concrete responses remain insufficient. Between an announcement and lessons actually delivered, there is an implementation phase. This observation does not make every announcement useless: it invites checking where and when an improvement arrives. Demands about premises, guidance or working conditions are not reduced to assigning teachers.
13 | The system: teachers and buildings, distinct responsibilities
For public lycées, the State manages in particular teaching and teaching staff; the region takes charge of buildings, major repairs and equipment. The rectorat carries out educational administration at the academy level. Recruiting a teacher and renovating a building therefore fall under different responsibilities. This split helps explain the variety of contacts.
14 | Understanding Parcoursup
Parcoursup is the national application platform for first-year higher education. It transmits files and admission offers. According to its official explanations, programme committees examine and rank applications: the platform itself does not judge all files. The disputes concern in particular guidance and selection. How the system works must be distinguished from demands for change or abolition.
15 | Demonstration, strike, blockade: three different actions
Confusing these terms leads to misunderstanding the consequences for a school.
- Demonstration: gathering publicly to express demands.
- Strike: collectively stopping work.
- Blockade: preventing access to a place.
- Suspended lessons: several causes are possible; this total is not automatically a number of blocked lycées.
16 | 13 October: calls, not yet a full tally
Parents and education unions call on people to join the high-school and student mobilisation. At this morning check, we do not have a final national tally for the day or the situation of each school. For travel, check with your school and your carrier. An announced appointment must be distinguished from what actually took place.
17 | Reading the figures without mixing them
Participants, disrupted schools, blocked lycées and people arrested are different indicators. Specify the author, date, scope and whether daily or cumulative. For 6 October, Euronews distinguishes about 256,000 participants according to the Interior Ministry and 450,000 according to the organisers. None of these figures should be presented without attribution or become the tally for 13 October.
18 | What to follow next?
To understand the evolution, also follow concrete responses, not just the size of marches. Here are the elements JAPANITIES will seek to verify in the follow-ups.
- Do the assignments really allow lessons to resume?
- Do improvements to premises and days have funding and a timetable?
- What follow-ups are published after the 23 October consultation?
- What do representatives announce for the next actions or discussions?
- What do the investigations into injuries and interventions conclude?
Learn the grammar
French grammar
Learn sentence patterns and usage from the article’s own sentences.
01The present indicative
est / sont + attribute (noun, adjective, prepositional phrase)
Soutenir, politiser le débat et organiser toutes les actions sont trois affirmations différentes.Key pointsÊtre in the present is est for a singular subject and sont for a plural one. It describes nature, state or place (“is”, “is located”). If what follows (the attribute) is a noun, adjective or prepositional phrase, it is not a passive. If a past participle follows, it is a passive (est annoncé). Headlines and summaries often use the present to describe the current situation.
02The passé composé
present of avoir + past participle
Ce témoignage provient d’un groupe politique de soutien ; JAPANITIES n’a pas vérifié lui-même les effectifs de l’établissement.Key pointsThe passé composé is the most common past tense, used for “did” and “has done” — actions completed in the past. It is formed with the auxiliary avoir (a / ont…) in the present + a past participle. Past participles of -er verbs end in -é (annoncer → annoncé); learn the irregular ones (faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu). In the negative, ne … pas wraps the auxiliary (n’a pas annoncé). In the news it reports facts that have already happened, such as “announced” or “voted”.
03The futur simple
stem (infinitive) + -ai / -as / -a / -ons / -ez / -ont
Le ministère ouvre une consultation Agora jusqu’au 23 octobre et identifie cinq chantiers : cours, locaux, organisation des journées, transparence de Parcoursup et suites données à la parole des élèves.Key pointsThe futur simple means “will do” or “is planned to”. Add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive (participer → il participera). Watch the irregular stems: être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, pouvoir → pourr-, voir → verr-. In the news it is used for fixed plans and outlooks.
04The present conditional
stem (infinitive) + -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient
Elle n’établit pas non plus que ce lycée aurait accueilli la toute première protestation de France.Key pointsThe conditional expresses possibility, supposition, unconfirmed information and polite requests (“would”, “might”). It uses the same stem as the future and the same endings as the imparfait (-ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient): pouvoir → il pourrait. In the news it is used to avoid asserting, as in “is reported to…” or “there is a possibility…”.
05The passive voice in the present
être (est / sont) + past participle (+ par / de)
Le lycée Saint-Exupéry de Créteil, dans le Val-de-Marne, est cité comme un foyer de la mobilisation devenue nationale.Key pointsThe passive means “is done” or “is being done”. It is formed with être + past participle, which agrees with the subject in gender and number (la mesure est adoptée / les mesures sont adoptées). The agent is introduced by par (or de). In the news it is common when the event, rather than the actor, is the focus (est prévu / est annoncé / est connu).
06The imperative
present vous form (-ez) / nous (-ons) / tu
Précisez l’auteur, la date, le périmètre et le caractère quotidien ou cumulé.Key pointsThe imperative expresses commands, requests and advice. It has no subject: the sentence starts with the verb (Consultez les informations.). The vous form ends in -ez, nous in -ons (Restons prudents.), and tu in -e for -er verbs (Consulte). It is very common in notices and warnings (Vérifiez, Consultez, Restez informé).
07Pronominal verbs
se / s’ + verb
Le mouvement ne se limite pas au refus d’une seule loi.Key pointsA pronominal verb is used with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) before the verb. It can mean “do to oneself”, “be done” or “do to each other”. In the news, se traduire (to result in), se tenir (to take place), s’agir de (to be a matter of) and se diffuser (to spread) are frequent. The pronoun changes with the subject (il se tient / ils se tiennent / je me souviens).
08Negation and its scope
ne / n’ … pas · ne … plus
Le mouvement ne se limite pas au refus d’une seule loi.Key pointsNormally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.
09Citing a source with selon
selon + noun / organisation
Selon la CGT Ville de Paris, les professeurs font grève le 17, les élèves de terminale bloquent l’établissement le 18 et l’action reprend le 21.Key pointsSelon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.
10Pouvoir: ability and possibility
peut / peuvent / pourrait + infinitive
On peut regrouper les demandes présentées dans l’appel intersyndical en quatre ensembles.Key pointsPut a base-form verb after pouvoir. Peut means “can” or “may”; the conditional pourrait gives a more reserved possibility, “might”. It does not necessarily mean implementation is settled.
11Purpose with pour
pour + infinitive
À l’automne 2026, la mobilisation s’étend à partir de difficultés concrètes pour étudier.Key pointsThis is the purpose, “in order to…”. Put the base form of a verb after pour. The purpose stated here is separate from whether the effect was actually achieved.
12The construction il s’agit de
il s’agit de + noun / infinitive
Selon LCP, il s’agit principalement de personnels sans affectation, avec des recrutements supplémentaires annoncés séparément : pas de 3 000 embauches nouvelles déjà réalisées.Key pointsIt explains what something is about: “it is a matter of…”. The il is not a particular man but a formal subject of this construction. The negative il ne s’agit pas de means “this is not about…”.
Japanese grammar
Understand the structure and usage from the text.
01Citing a source: によると
noun + によると
LCPによると、中心は現在配置されていない教員の活用で、別途採用を増やす方針も示しています。Key pointsAs in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.
02Rejecting an interpretation
〜わけではない / 〜という意味ではない
学校ごとに重点は異なり、すべての参加者が同じ要求を持つわけではありません。Key pointsThese forms limit and deny an interpretation: “it does not necessarily follow” or “that is not what is meant”. They do not necessarily deny every fact in the sentence. Read what is being denied together with the earlier part.
03Defining a term with とは
noun + とは
したがって、教員を増やすことと、校舎を直すことは、予算も担当も同一ではありません。Key pointsIt takes up a word, as in “在留資格とは？”, and asks for its meaning. In explanations it is used as “〜とは、…です”. Here the quotation と and the topic は are combined.
04Polite negation and plain form
〜ではありません / 〜ではない
単一の法律への反対だけを目的とした運動ではありません。Key pointsThey negate a noun and similar content. “ではありません” is the polite form and “ではない” the plain form. “成立ではありません” shows that it cannot be said to have been concluded.
05Cause or purpose with ため
〜ため / 〜ために
2026年秋の高校生デモは、「授業を受けるための人員や環境が足りない」という学校現場の不満から拡大しました。Key pointsため is used for both reason and purpose. “成立ではないため” is a reason and “運転手を守るため” a purpose. Decide from the whole sentence whether what precedes is a cause or a goal.
06Giving examples with など
noun / expression + など
9月20日付の地元団体の声明では、教員に加え、副校長、看護師、ソーシャルワーカーなどの欠員が指摘され、教員・学校職員の行動に生徒が加わったと記録されています。Key points“暴言など” gives “abusive language” as one example. It is not necessarily a closed list of only the things named. It also helps when reading the scope of a news story.