Blockade of high school students: “We participate for the symbol”… HEC and other major schools are also getting involved

There were around thirty of them who gathered, Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., in front of the entrance to the establishment in Jouy-en-Josas, in Yvelines, mouths covered by masks and scarves. Behind a row of trash cans and wooden pallets, students from the prestigious HEC business school also took part in the high school anger movement, supported by many students in France.

On their signs, we could read: “Privileged but not blind”, “FacHEC but not fascist”, “HE Listen to high school students”, or even “Our values ​​are not listed on the stock market”. An unprecedented mobilization in the history of the school, renowned for being a bastion of the wealthy social classes, and whose tuition fees per year amount to around 25,000 euros.

“Denounce inequalities at school”

Of the 4,500 students registered on campus, “between 80 and 90 people” took turns until midday, according to Arthur*, a student on site. “In the low moments, there were around twenty of us,” he says. A small portion of rebels facing a relatively silent majority, therefore. “When we saw that the demonstrations were spreading to schools like CentralSupélec, the Ecole Normale Supérieure and other establishments linked to the bourgeoisie and the right in the collective imagination, we too wanted to participate in this symbolic uprising,” explains Arthur.

A WhatsApp group was created to organize the blockade, with one goal: “Support high school and student mobilization, denounce inequalities at school and the feeling of uncertainty that hovers around. » They wanted to be present to show that the protest is spreading to all strata of youth, “even those who do not seem concerned”. Because within HEC, “we are among the first to notice the internal stranglehold of the private education system,” insists the young man.

Against the far right

Security around the building was reinforced, “we saw the gendarmes doing a few rounds”, but overall “everything took place calmly”. There were numerous media to cover the event and at the end of the morning, the journalist from the identity media Frontières Jordan Florentin, live on CNews, was attacked by two students present at the blockade. One tears off the windscreen from his microphone, the other tries to hide the camera lens with his hand. “You are not the press, you are far-right,” says the latter.

If the other young people did not intervene, several signs were raised against the extreme right. “We also wanted to stand up against the breakthrough of the National Rally in the political field,” assures Arthur. To show that those associated with the future economic reality do not accept these ideas. » Lacking enthusiasm, the symbolic action quickly ran out of steam. “What remains above all is the question of solutions to this crisis,” breathes Arthur. While the students are in the middle of their midterm exams, the professors have not communicated with them regarding the blockage, nor the HEC administration.