Students continue to protest against the pension reform. This Thursday, at the call of various youth organizations, dozens of high schools and universities are the scene of protest actions against the pension reform throughout the France, AFP found.

In Paris, access to several high schools was blocked by young people, often perched on garbage cans, including Louis-le-Grand (5th arrondissement), Rodin (12th), Jules Ferry (9th), Racine (8th), Bergson or Brassens (19th). In front of Louis-le-Grand, 150 to 200 people were gathered, with signs "Macron resign" or "Retirement before arthritis", chanting "Paris, Paris rise up", according to an AFP journalist. "We disagree with various actions of the government, including the misuse of 49.3," said Emma, a 19-year-old khâgne student.

"77 incidents in high schools in France"

Contacted by AFP, the Ministry of National Education reported Thursday noon "77 incidents in high schools in France: 27 blockages, 37 filtering blockades, nine attempts to block and four other forms of disruption such as gatherings or a localized power cut on an establishment". In front of Louis-le-Grand, 150 to 200 people were gathered, with signs "Macron resign" or "Retirement before arthritis", chanting "Paris, Paris rise up", according to an AFP journalist.



"We disagree with various actions of the government, including the misuse of 49.3," said Emma, a 19-year-old khâgne student. "For a week, there has been a popular effervescence because the 49.3 does not pass. We continue to fight, we have no choice," Manès Nadel, Paris federal head of La Voix lycéenne, told AFP. The student union L'Alternative counted some 80 schools and universities mobilized in France, including sixty blocked at least partially or occupied.

Blockades in all major cities of France

The law school of Assas, in Paris, was blocked for the first time since the beginning of the movement on pensions, with a hundred students present in front of a banner "General strike, Assas the red", reports AFP. In Marseille, a rally was held on the forecourt of the Thiers high school (city center) and access to the Saint-Charles university is blocked. "There is a lot of anger, also because of the detention of students and police repression," says Grégoire, a computer science student.

In Lyon, the management of the Ecole normale supérieure (ENS) announced the cancellation of courses after blocking access to two sites. In Toulouse, the entrance to the University of Toulouse-Mirail was also blocked, according to students on site, as were Sciences Po Toulouse, the Insa engineering school and the Saint-Sernin high school (city center). The other two universities of the city are functioning on the other hand - despite a vote of students in GA the day before - because of an insufficient number of students mobilized. In Rennes, several high schools were blocked and classes suspended at the University of Rennes-2, spearhead of the protest.

  • Pension reform 2023
  • Block
  • Strike
  • Society
  • Student
  • Student
  • Events