SAEDNEWS: French Student Leaders Vow to Continue Protests Despite Government Education Concessions, as Unrest Spreads and Economic Damage Deepens
According to Saednews, The measures include a commitment to limit the size of certain high school classes, €4 billion (S$5.73 billion) in loans to renovate schools, and the replacement by 2028 of a university admissions system that students consider socially unfair, Reuters reported.
“Not all our demands have been met. We will continue for as long as necessary,” said Louis Letoublon, one of the high school student representatives, as he and other student leaders emerged from a meeting with government officials in Paris.
The protests, which have expanded beyond education to include trade unions and yellow-vest activists known for their high-visibility jackets, are posing a major challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s minority government.
The government has limited room to spend its way out of the unrest, with national debt approaching 120% of gross domestic product. Meanwhile, the turmoil is strengthening support for far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The package includes €1 billion in investment for university campuses, an increase in student grants in line with inflation, and 15,000 additional places in higher education.
“It is clear that we need to ease the pressure on the education system,” French Education Minister Edouard Geffray told a press conference.
The government has not provided an overall estimate of the package’s cost. High borrowing requirements are already making it more difficult to reach an agreement on the 2027 budget.
The protests, initially sparked by student dissatisfaction, show little sign of ending. Nine days ago, violence spread across dozens of cities, raising concerns that the state had lost control of the streets.
Earlier, Macron acknowledged that further unrest was likely this weekend, ahead of a larger nationwide protest scheduled for November 5.
During a visit to Marseille to assess the damage and thank emergency services following the October 24 protests, Macron said security measures would remain in place. He also pledged to work towards moving demonstrations away from city centres.
Le Pen, already the leading candidate in the 2027 presidential race, has benefited from the unrest and public perceptions that the authorities are struggling to maintain public order.
An opinion poll published on October 25 put her support at between 32% and 33.5%, well ahead of her closest rival, hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who received 17%.
Polls suggest Le Pen would comfortably defeat Melenchon in a second-round vote, which is expected to take place in early May 2027.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said earlier that 1,435 people had been arrested nationwide during demonstrations on October 24. He added that police had observed a new development: organised far-right groups confronting far-left activists in several cities.
“We knew that numerous identity-based and nationalist movements had called on their supporters to take to the streets, officially to defend businesses,” he said.
“In several cities, including Nice and Montpellier, these groups arrived in organised formations, primarily targeting the ultra-left movement.”
A sell-off in French government bonds paused on October 26 after ratings agency Moody’s decided on October 23 not to downgrade France’s sovereign debt rating.
However, business leaders said the unrest continued to cause substantial economic damage.
Alain Di Crescenzo, head of the CCI France network of chambers of commerce and industry, said many retailers had remained closed as a precaution following the violence on October 17. He added that the closures had resulted in a sharp decline in sales.
“We have shopkeepers who are exhausted and demoralised, and we are destroying local businesses,” he told Radio Classique.
