Macron to meet student groups: Where are France’s protests heading?

President to meet for first time with student representatives on Friday before further protests.

A protester holds up a sign that reads, 'Sorry, I'm the one who stole all the education money,' during a gathering in Paris on October 22, 2026, against poor school conditions [Teresa Suarez/AP]

Paris, France – President Emmanuel Macron plans to meet with high school student representatives as the country braces for further protests over the weekend.

The meeting on Friday marks the first time the French leader has held talks with the student groups that have been calling for an overhaul of the education system since September.

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Students have called for more demonstrations to maintain the pressure while Jean-Didier Berger, the minister delegate to the interior minister, said the police presence on the streets would be increased by 20 percent.

Last weekend, largely peaceful demonstrations gave way to violent riots. Authorities were accused of failing to prepare adequately and are taking no chances before further protests expected on Saturday.

A curfew in Paris will limit movement while protest bans are in place in Marseille and Lyon.

‘We’ve been given promises that were never kept’

High school students have made their demands clear: better-funded schools, more teachers and a greater say in decisions affecting their future.

With protests showing little sign of abating, a government weakened by political deadlock and mounting debt faces a difficult question: What can it do to bring young people off the streets?

“For years, we’ve been given promises that were never kept,” said Soumaya Sarre, an 18-year-old student and a leading figure in the Federation of High School Students from Working-Class Neighbourhoods. “What we want is for promises to be backed by concrete results. We want to see real change in our high schools.”

Since mid-September, high school students have been protesting against teacher shortages; overcrowded classrooms, sometimes with more than 40 students; and dilapidated school buildings.

Their grievances have grown into a nationwide movement at a tense moment for France as it gears up for its presidential election in six months.

“Let’s be clear: Our demands are not all impossible to meet,” said Nathanael Combary, 18, president of the board of directors of the student organisation Renouveau Lyceen.

He identified two priorities: a comprehensive overhaul of Parcoursup, the university admissions system, which many students consider discriminatory, and a 1.5-billion-euro ($1.7bn) emergency plan to improve school infrastructure before winter and summer.

Other student organisations and unions are calling for an additional 10 billion euros ($11.2bn) for education, more teachers on permanent rather than precarious contracts and 250,000 additional university places.

“My primary goal is to provide very concrete solutions,” Combary said.

So far, the government has announced 3,000 additional substitute teachers and an online consultation while its 2027 budget allocates an extra 1.1 billion euros ($1.2bn) to national education.

But beyond these practical demands, one message emerged repeatedly in interviews with students: They want to be heard.

“It is clear that this crisis points to one thing: a breakdown in dialogue between the government – and politicians in general – and young people,” Combary said. “We need a government that listens to us and is capable of responding to our demands.”

‘Wealthy family has replaced the welfare state’

Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste is not considering abolishing Parcoursup, calling the idea “pure demagogy”, but he said he was ready for “profound changes”.

After a meeting with student organisations on October 7, the Union etudiante, a national student union federation, said the minister could not give them any guarantees. Another meeting is set for Monday at which the government said it will present a first set of decisions on staffing, teacher replacements and Parcoursup.

Some observers doubted that these measures alone can address the deeper causes of the unrest: a sense of anxiety linked to a diploma that no longer guarantees a job, an ever-increasing cost of living and a sense that the state is not capable any longer of providing services.

“Young people’s prospects depend on the social status and wealth of a family. This is the root cause of these protests, and it can’t be fixed with a few measures, such as improving heating in schools and toilets,” said Jacques Reland, a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute.

“The wealthy family has replaced the welfare state,” he said.

On top of that, students and unions are asking for a level of support that the government can’t give, even if it wanted to.

On a political level, Macron has a minority in parliament, which makes it impossible to pass any meaningful reforms.

But the biggest obstacle for any concessions to the protesters is finances.

France has long spent on a generous welfare system.

Macron offered a cheque of 10 billion euros ($11.2bn) in tax cuts to quell the ‘yellow vest’ movement, which ripped through France in 2018. A similar response may be more difficult this time.

Public debt is projected to reach 121.7 percent of France’s gross domestic product in 2027, up from 119.3 percent this year, according to the government’s budget bill.

“They are demanding things that the government is not in a position to satisfy unless they increase the deficit, or touch social security – two aspects that would push people in the streets,” Reland said.

在进一步抗议活动之前，总统将于周五首次会见学生代表。

2026年10月22日，在巴黎举行的一场抗议学校条件恶劣的集会上，一名抗议者举着一块牌子，上面写着：“对不起，是我偷走了所有的教育经费。”[Teresa Suarez/AP]

法国巴黎——总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙计划会见高中学生代表，因为该国正准备应对周末可能发生的进一步抗议活动。

周五的这次会晤标志着这位法国领导人首次与自去年9月以来一直呼吁改革教育体系的学生团体举行会谈。

列表 1/4 “这对我们来说太难了”：巴黎小企业首当其冲地承受抗议暴力事件的冲击

列表 2/4：法国总统马克龙表示，不会允许抗议者“制造混乱”。

列表 3/4 “愚蠢的言论”：法国驳斥特朗普将动乱归咎于移民的企图

（共4条，第4条）马克龙指责“煽动性”极左翼分子制造动乱，法国禁止部分抗议活动

学生们呼吁举行更多示威活动以保持压力，而内政部长代表让-迪迪埃·贝尔热表示，街头警力将增加 20%。

上周末，原本基本和平的示威活动演变为暴力骚乱。当局被指责准备不足，因此在预计周六将发生进一步抗议活动的情况下，他们不敢掉以轻心。

巴黎将实施宵禁，限制人员流动；马赛和里昂则禁止抗议活动。

“我们得到的都是从未兑现的承诺。”

高中生们已经明确表达了他们的诉求：增加学校经费、增加教师人数，以及在影响他们未来的决策中拥有更大的发言权。

抗议活动丝毫没有减弱的迹象，一个因政治僵局和不断增加的债务而软弱无力的政府面临着一个难题：它能做些什么来让年轻人离开街头？

“多年来，我们得到的都是空头支票，”18岁的学生苏玛雅·萨雷说道，她是工薪阶层社区高中生联合会的领军人物。“我们想要的是切实的成果来支撑这些承诺。我们希望看到高中发生真正的改变。”

自 9 月中旬以来，高中生们一直在抗议教师短缺、教室拥挤（有时超过 40 名学生）以及校舍破旧等问题。

在法国即将于六个月后举行总统大选的紧张时刻，他们的不满情绪已经发展成为一场全国性的运动。

“让我们明确一点：我们的要求并非全部都无法满足，”18 岁的 Nathanael Combary 说道，他是学生组织 Renouveau Lyceen 的董事会主席。

他确定了两项优先事项：一是全面改革大学招生系统 Parcoursup（许多学生认为该系统具有歧视性）；二是制定一项 15 亿欧元（17 亿美元）的紧急计划，以便在冬季和夏季到来之前改善学校基础设施。

其他学生组织和工会呼吁为教育追加 100 亿欧元（112 亿美元）的拨款，为更多教师提供永久合同而不是不稳定的合同，并增加 25 万个大学名额。

“我的首要目标是提供非常具体的解决方案，”康巴里说。

到目前为止，政府已宣布增聘 3000 名代课教师并开展在线咨询，同时其 2027 年预算还为国家教育额外拨款 11 亿欧元（12 亿美元）。

但除了这些实际需求之外，在对学生的采访中，反复出现一个信息：他们希望自己的声音被听到。

“很明显，这场危机指向一个问题：政府——以及政界人士——与年轻人之间的对话出现了破裂，”孔巴里说。“我们需要一个能够倾听我们声音并回应我们诉求的政府。”

“富裕家庭取代了福利国家”

高等教育部长菲利普·巴蒂斯特不考虑废除高等职业教育课程（Parcoursup），称这种想法是“纯粹的煽动”，但他表示已准备好进行“深刻的变革”。

10月7日与学生组织会面后，全国学生联合会Union etudiante表示，部长无法给予他们任何保证。另一次会议定于周一举行，届时政府表示将公布关于人员配备、教师更替和Parcoursup项目的第一批决定。

一些观察人士怀疑，仅靠这些措施无法解决动荡的深层原因：一种与文凭不再能保证就业相关的焦虑感、不断上涨的生活成本以及一种国家无力再提供服务的感觉。

“年轻人的未来取决于家庭的社会地位和财富。这是这些抗议活动的根源，而这并非改善学校供暖和厕所条件等少数措施就能解决的，”全球政策研究所高级研究员雅克·雷兰德说道。

他说：“富裕家庭已经取代了福利国家。”

除此之外，学生和工会要求的援助力度，即使政府想提供也无能为力。

在政治层面上，马克龙在议会中属于少数派，这使得任何有意义的改革都无法通过。

但对示威者做出任何让步的最大障碍是资金。

法国长期以来在慷慨的福利制度上投入巨资。

为了平息2018年席卷法国的“黄背心”运动，马克龙曾提出提供100亿欧元（112亿美元）的减税方案。但这一次，采取类似的应对措施可能更加困难。

根据政府的预算案，预计到 2027 年，法国公共债务将达到国内生产总值的 121.7%，高于今年的 119.3%。

“他们提出的要求，政府根本无法满足，除非增加财政赤字或动用社会保障——而这两方面都会把人们推上街头，”雷兰德说。