“We want the pure and simple repeal of Parcoursup,” said Alix, a terminale student at Lycée Joffre in Montpellier.
Between 2,000 and 3,000 demonstrators marched on Tuesday, November 10, through Montpellier, moving from the Triolet campus of the Faculty of Science to Place de l’Europe to demand better study and working conditions, according to a report by La Marseillaise. Similar rallies unfolded across Nîmes, Béziers, Mende, and Alès.
The mobilization follows a press conference held the previous day uniting high school student movements alongside unions representing national education, higher education, and research. Participants reached a broad consensus against the government’s proposed reforms to the national university admissions platform.
Alban Desoutter of the FO ESR higher education union argued that filtering candidates outside the public university system via Parcoursup has triggered an explosion of private training courses of frequently dubious quality.
Students also targeted the government’s list of 200 priority high schools designated for renovations. While acknowledging her own school made the cut, Alix argued that every facility deserves upgrades reflecting its actual physical state.
Sabine Raynaud of the Snudi FO primary school teachers union echoed those grievances regarding the broader decay of educational infrastructure. “High schools have rotten buildings; our schools are rotten,” Raynaud told La Marseillaise.
Efforts to cap second-year high school classes at 28 students failed to placate student organizers. Alix suggested that caps make more sense during first and terminale years, when students face official examinations.
Student advocates also dismissed government promises regarding mental health support as too vague. Mathieu Marchal of the Fnec FP-FO union representing middle and high schools pointed out that the Montpellier academy plans to create just three psychologist positions.
Educators demanded an immediate halt to job cuts and fresh hiring across the board. Romain Larive of the Snesup-FSU higher education union defended the civil servant status against an increasing reliance on precarious and contract-based workers in universities.
Larive criticized the exclusion of civil servants from the social conference convened by the Prime Minister on November 9, noting that standard civil service pay grids routinely push starting recruitment below the minimum wage.
Alix condemned both police intervention during campus blockades and administrative penalties inside institutions through disciplinary boards. While maintaining the independent nature of the high school movement, Alix urged staff and education unions to unite in solidarity.
Desoutter credited the youth mobilization for sparking the wider pushback, noting that discussions regarding rolling strikes are now underway.
