Students return to the streets in France in protests for better conditions in public education

Police and protesters clashed in Place de la Bastille, in central Paris. Young people blocked the street and teachers stood beside them. Alix Picavet, 21, who is studying to be a teacher, reports that, in 2025, the school ran out of toilet paper for three months.

In Saint-Denis, the mayor placed himself between the riot police and the students. But the advance continued. In Aubervilliers, a poster told the students: more money spent on tear gas than on our pens.

Students are asking for money from schools at a time when France needs to cut billions of euros from the Budget. For more than 50 years, the French government has spent more than it collects. In 2026, the deficit is expected to reach 5.4% of Gross Domestic Product - well above the 3% limit established by European rules. And expenses increase on several fronts. Defense alone should receive an additional 6.4 billion euros in 2027.

Concerned investors begin to demand higher interest rates to continue lending money to the government. To try to contain this snowball, the prime minister proposed an adjustment of 43 billion euros and cuts in sectors such as health, education, retirement and salaries.

The voices scream against President Emmanuel Macron. He cannot run for re-election in the presidential vote in six months, but he is trying to avoid the rise of Marine Le Pen's far right, which promises even more severe cuts.