High school mobilization: Jean-Luc Mélenchon calls to support the movement

The new day of mobilization of high school students, scheduled for October 6, is “a starting point” and “opens a series for sure,” said the head of the France Insoumise list on Saturday, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in a blog note, calling for “organizing ourselves to support this period of mobilization.” High school organizations called on Friday for the continuation of actions to block high schools, for lack of “concrete measures” proposed by the Minister of National Education, according to them. High school students are demanding more human and material resources for their establishments, denouncing the unsanitary conditions of the buildings, overcrowded classes and a lack of staff.

For Jean-Luc Mélenchon, "October 17", the date of a massive call for general mobilization launched on social networks, "is in people's minds", and the government "has little time to imagine a way out of the crisis. It is hardly credible to believe him capable of doing so.” “It is then better to organize ourselves to support this period of mobilization and political awareness by opening it up to 2027,” adds the four-time presidential candidate, accused by the government, the right and the far right, of fueling violence and exploiting the movement.

“LFI’s isolation is broken”

The leader of the Insoumis welcomes the progressive structuring of the movement, first with an “organized coordination of high school students”, then the entry into the movement of all the student unions, the teaching unions, and finally the union confederations. “Everywhere, the signal is given for the joining of forces”, welcomes the Insoumis, satisfied to see that “no one is joining the macronie campaign against LFI (...). The isolation of LFI is broken. “The conjunction of employee unions with the youth movement and the left-wing parliamentary opposition establishes a turtle-like mutual protection and makes an overall dynamic possible,” he hopes.

Believing that "the duty is to help and protect our young people", Mélenchon recalls having proposed, like others, "to have 'white helmets' or white armbands around and in the demonstrations of October 6". He also repeated it on Saturday during the Pride march in Paris. “We had already done it in the years after the death of Malik Oussekine (in 1986, editor’s note) or in the 90s,” he explained, specifying that “if we do it, it will help things go well.”

The deputy of the environmental group, Pouria Amirshahi, also called on Saturday, in a press release, parents, and more broadly, all adults, to stand, “white helmet on their heads”, alongside high school students on Tuesday. Started on September 17, the protest movement ignited in many cities and “735 establishments” were disrupted on Friday, according to the Minister of Education, Edouard Geffray.