Blockade of high schools: The Lycéens organization! calls for new mobilizations “from Monday”

The blocking of many high schools could resume on the Monday of the start of the school year throughout France. Pierre Sourzat, head of the organization Les Lycéens!, called on Sunday for blockades “from Monday”, denouncing the “counter policy” of the government which unveiled several measures at the start of the week to try to extinguish the anger of young people.

After 15 days of vacation, “of course we are calling for a blockade […] the high schools will be blocked, starting Monday,” said Pierre Sourzat on RMC. “It will be more from Tuesday, but we know that there are high schools which will be blocked from tomorrow. And we support all our comrades,” he said while the High School Union (USL) and the Student Union called on Saturday to block high schools and universities on Tuesday and then Thursday, November 5, an inter-professional strike day.

“Not heard”

Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for classes to resume “calmly”, “taking into account the fact that young people have been heard”. A few days earlier, the Ministers of Education and Higher Education had announced several measures to respond to the high school and student crisis which has now lasted six weeks, including the gradual replacement of the Parcoursup post-baccalaureate admission system by 2028.

The president “did not hear us […] he (did) give us almost nothing,” retorted Pierre Sourzat. “The government has played counter policy with us. He looked down on us a little, he even made fun of us,” he lashed out. Concerning the replacement of Parcoursup, he believes that the reform does not address the basic problem, namely the lack of places in higher education.

Measures… But window dressing?

According to him, several regions have already indicated that they would not be able to use the loans provided by the government to renovate school buildings, due to a lack of financial margins after the reduction in their allocations. “It’s smoke and mirrors. There is a little varnish, but as soon as you scratch, there is nothing left behind,” estimated Pierre Sourzat.

The manager also considered insufficient the plan to reduce numbers by class, limited only to second grade classes. “We asked for all classes,” he stressed. Asked about the duration of the movement, Pierre Sourzat, who is in higher education, did not set a deadline, believing that it would depend on the government's response.

Recognizing the risk of academic delay for the mobilized high school students, he nevertheless defended the continuation of the protest, recalling that “all social movements that have worked” required collective mobilization. “It’s a sacrifice” for future generations, he admitted.