More resources, less crowded classes, buildings in better condition. For several days, high school students have been proclaiming their demands by blocking their establishments. Créteil, Paris, Lille, Marseille, Brest, Strasbourg… The movement concerned 356 establishments throughout France on Wednesday September 30 at 6 p.m., compared to 338 on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The High School Union (USL) called for an “act 2” on Thursday and a day of action on Tuesday, October 6.
The situation became tense Thursday morning, with several fires in front of schools and clashes between high school students and the police. At the end of an interministerial crisis unit on Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister's services estimated that the movement was "a maneuver organized by LFI and its ultra-left proxies". The coordinator of LFI, Manuel Bompard, immediately criticized Matignon for “sinking into conspiracy”.
Créteil, epicenter of the mobilization
The first blockades began shortly after the start of the school year. First in Brittany, at the Théodore-Monod du Rheu high school, near Rennes, where “human and material problems” are denounced by the high school students. Then, on September 15, at the Queneau high schools in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (North) and Victor-Hugo high schools in Caen (Calvados), where the overloaded schedule is the main cause of discontent.
But it is in Créteil, in Val-de-Marne, that the movement crystallizes. The day after a teachers' strike against the lack of resources and personnel, on September 17, the students of the Saint-Exupéry high school took the initiative to organize a blockade. “The teachers explained to us the reasons for their dissatisfaction and we decided to join them,” Cheick Sanogo, first grade student in this establishment, explains to franceinfo. They say they have been neglected by National Education and denounce "the lack of resources and staff, overcrowded classes and a lack of tables in certain rooms".
A movement amplified by social networks
An academic source and the High School Union present this mobilization as the starting point of the national movement. With social networks, “the mobilization took on an unexpected scale”, testifies Cheick Sanogo. “It’s on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and it’s getting a lot of views,” notes the 17-year-old.
Content is posted by the adolescents themselves, but also by online media, such as Booska-P, which gives a voice to eight students from the Saint-Exupéry high school. They talk about their feeling of abandonment as young people living in the suburbs and explain how they decided to block their establishment. “I invite all high schools to do this,” concludes one of them. Their interview, published on September 24, has 1.4 million views on TikTok. “It could have affected other high school students who are in the same situation as us, or even worse,” said Cheick Sanogo. “Social networks act as an amplifier of mobilization and expose people to various recoveries,” affirmed the Créteil rectorate on September 28.
MPs came to support
At the same time, politicians are taking charge of the mobilization of this high school in Créteil. On September 21, Louis Boyard and Clémence Guetté, two deputies from the La France insoumise group, went there. On X, Louis Boyard's publication has been viewed nearly 520,000 times. “That important people, elected officials of the Republic come to support us, that makes us happy. We feel more listened to,” confides Cheick Sanogo.
The movement soon spread to the Parisian suburbs. On September 25, the rectorate of the Créteil academy listed a “large dozen” high schools blocked, particularly in Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne. The Versailles academy also reports “disturbances” in three establishments in Essonne.
Little by little, the mobilization is organized. In a press release relayed on social networks, the USL calls for a national mobilization on Tuesday September 29 against the "lack of teachers and staff", "dilapidated high schools", "overloaded timetables and classes" and the "stress caused by Parcoursup". She also invites students to join demonstrations for public service. In 2025, the USL had already called for a national blockade of high schools for the same reasons. According to the organization, it was then followed by 170 establishments.
“Never before seen in National Education”
During a press conference on Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, reported the presence of "hooded people, dressed in black, equipped with projectiles, mortars, sometimes bottles of hydrochloric acid" near the blockages. “Groups (...) try to cause disruptions and blockages by moving from one establishment to another. (...) Some are extremely violent,” says the Minister of National Education, Edouard Geffray. Since the start of the blockades, 119 people (85 students and 34 staff members) have been injured. “This is unheard of in National Education,” lamented Edouard Geffray to journalists. In two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, the police made 1,065 arrests.
On Monday, a high school student was injured in the face after a police officer fired a projectile during a blockade in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, in Val-d'Oise. The scene was filmed. On social networks, the images shock and generate thousands of views. The next day, in high school gatherings, teenagers brandished signs denouncing police violence. This is the case for Jasmine, who goes to school in Paris: “I am demonstrating in support of the suburban high schools which have been repressed,” she explains to franceinfo in front of her establishment in the 3rd arrondissement.
Government and LFI pass the buck
In this tense context, the government and La France Insoumise accuse each other of fueling tensions. Jean-Luc Mélenchon accuses the executive of having ordered the repression with "an obvious racist aftertaste". “LFI deputies are encouraging (...) young people to block high schools,” said the Minister of National Education on September 25 on X. “We cannot demand teachers and encourage blockages that prevent students from going to class,” he judges. Three days later, the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, castigated an "irresponsible one-upmanship": "Instrumenting their anger for partisan purposes is a mistake", he believes. “The rebels call for non-violent methods of struggle,” assures Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X.
