High school students blocked establishments on Tuesday, October 18, particularly in Paris, in support of the inter-union strike for wage increases and the right to strike, but also against the reform of the vocational high school and Parcoursup and in support of the mobilized students of Nanterre.
According to the high school student union La Voix lycéenne, which called for mobilization “against the reform of the professional high school, and to say no to selection and to Parcoursup, to demand resources in education and in support of the strike movement», «nearly a hundred high schools“were blocked at 10:00 am”everywhere in France“.
“Support for Joliot-Curie students”
For its part, the Ministry of Education has identified around thirty blockages and a hundred incidents in France. In Paris, the Voltaire, Arago, Hélène Boucher, Montaigne or Racine high schools were notably blocked, noted AFP journalists. In front of the Voltaire high school, in the 11th arrondissement, around 200 young people were gathered in the middle of the morning, some perched on trash cans and piled up street furniture, against a background of music and the sound of firecrackers.
“Support for Joliot-Curie students“, could we read on a sign, in reference to the high school of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) where incidents have taken place for a week, following protests against the end of the homework assistance device and in support to a transferred teacher and trade unionist.
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Support for refiners
“We are here against repression and police blunders which are only increasing, in support of our teachers“, explained to AFP Dora, 17, in Terminale, black scarf on the face. “We are also against the reform of the professional high school and against the Parcoursup tool“, and “in support of refiners“. Most of the vocational high school teachers’ unions called a strike on Tuesday to demand the withdrawal of the government’s reform project.
In front of the Hélène Boucher high school, in the 20th arrondissement, several dozen students were also gathered in a good-natured atmosphere, trash cans blocking the entrance. Similar situations were observed in front of the Arago high school, in the 12th arrondissement, or at the Paul Robert high school in Les Lilas (Seine-Saint-Denis), AFP noted. In Hauts-de-Seine, a police source told AFP that a dozen police custody were in progress throughout the department after attempts to block in towns such as Colombes, Villeneuve-la-Garenne or Issy-les-Moulineaux. Elsewhere in France, the Saint Charles high school in Marseille was notably blocked on Tuesday morning, AFP learned.
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Blockades of high schools took place in Tours, Angers, Marseille, Douarnenez, Mulhouse, Narbonne or Toulouse, according to La Voix lycéenne. According to police sources, only “a dozenof establishments was blocked at 9 a.m. outside Paris and the inner suburbs.