00:00A demonstration swept across France on Tuesday as labour unions rallied in solidarity with
00:05high school students who have spent two weeks blockading schools to protest understaffing,
00:11overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.
00:17The recent wave of French students' protests began on September 21, 2026, at the Saint-Sebry
00:23High School in the northern suburban of Paris, as a demonstration in support of striking
00:27teachers.
00:27The actions that started these blockades that spread to more than 900 of the country's
00:313,700 high schools have snowballed into a national crisis.
00:36People had taken part in peaceful marches in cities including Lyon, Marseille and Nantes,
00:40where demonstrators took to the street holding aloft signs which read,
00:44they don't really care about us and survive or study.
00:47Protests have also taken place in Lille, Stratbourg and Bordogs, demonstrations in several locations
00:51including Stratbourg, Lyon and Paris have been heavily repressed by the police which have
00:55fired cheer-gassed protesters. The violence and the speed with which the protests have grown
00:59have taken many by surprise, but the grievances are longstanding. An overcrowded, ill-equipped
01:04and understaffed education system that many students feel is no longer fit for purpose.
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