---
title: "France’s pupils return to the barricades as Lecornu offers diesel and a consultation"
description: "A day after the prime minister’s televised appeal, school blockades resumed, while his budget seeks tens of billions of euros in savings"
author: "Jan Sokol"
published: 2026-10-08T12:34:29Z
modified: 2026-10-08T14:46:06Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/france-s-pupils-return-to-the-barricades-as-lecornu-offers-d-13a713
language: en
tags: ["education", "politics", "protests", "unions", "economy", "europe", "us"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# France’s pupils return to the barricades as Lecornu offers diesel and a consultation

*A day after the prime minister’s televised appeal, school blockades resumed, while his budget seeks tens of billions of euros in savings*

By Jan Sokol · October 8, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/france-s-pupils-return-to-the-barricades-as-lecornu-offers-d-13a713

## In brief

- French high school protests that began in Créteil on September 21 resumed on October 8 and have spread to more than 40 cities
- The government counted 265,000 protesters on October 6; organisers said about 450,000
- The Justice Ministry says 5,060 people were detained, 87% of them minors; Al Jazeera reports more than 6,100 arrests
- Stun grenades were suspended after a 15-year-old lost a hand; Lecornu ordered five projects, with decisions due by end of October
- Lecornu is releasing 10 million barrels of diesel while seeking a budget with tens of billions of euros in savings

It started with a single school. On September 21, pupils blockaded their lycée in Créteil, a suburb south of Paris. Within a week, [as Al Jazeera’s explainer on French education spending recounts](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/8/how-much-does-france-spend-on-education-compared-with-the-rest-of-europe), the protest had spread across the country and students were clashing violently with police. By this week, [Business Insider reported](https://www.businessinsider.com/france-protests-photos-scale-high-school-2026-10), it had reached more than 40 cities, among them Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Rennes.

On Thursday, October 8, the blockades were back. Reporting from Paris, [Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/8/school-protests-blockades-resume-in-france-despite-pms-promise-to-act) that university students and more trade unions had joined the movement and that a large rally was expected in the capital. In the 5th arrondissement, [Euronews reported](https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/08/fresh-day-of-student-protests-across-france-as-rally-planned-in-paris), students had been dragging bins into the streets and chanting since 6:30 in the morning. Outside the Lycée Henri-IV, one of the most prestigious schools in the country, a student told the broadcaster they were blockading “to show our full support for the suburban secondary schools.”

## Counting the crowd

How many marched depends on who is counting. On Tuesday, October 6, the government counted 265,000 demonstrators; the organisers said the number was closer to 450,000. Hundreds of schools were to stay shut on Thursday, in what the students have named “semaine noire”, black week. In Brest, on October 2, a protester was photographed throwing a street sign onto a burning barricade. Earlier this month the closures [ran to as many as 500 schools](https://rews.cc/a/france-closes-up-to-500-schools-as-student-protests-spread-a-d1fd09).

The arrests have their own two ledgers. France’s Justice Ministry put the number detained since the protests began at 5,060, and said 87% of them were minors. Al Jazeera put the number arrested at more than 6,100. Either way, the French state has now detained thousands of its own schoolchildren.

On Monday, a stun grenade blew off the hand of a 15-year-old boy, a local official told media outlets. The government then suspended the use of stun grenades, as accusations of police brutality grew. Police were still using tear gas against students in Nancy on October 7, [CNBC reported](https://cnbc.com/2026/10/08/france-diesel-reserves-protests.html).

## What the pupils want

The demands are concrete: renovate crumbling buildings, hire teachers in large numbers, change Parcoursup, the university admissions system. Students describe overcrowded classes and absent teachers who are never replaced. They talk about a shortage of tables and chairs, and in some schools about rodents. During this year’s heatwaves, they said, many of the neglected buildings had no air conditioning. One student told Euronews their class had gone six months without a teacher or substitute in a subject they must sit for the baccalauréat.

The figures complicate the story without dissolving it. According to Eurostat, France spends 5.1 percent of GDP on public education, joint 13th in Europe and above the EU average of 4.8 percent. The education ministry’s broader measure, which also counts spending by local authorities, businesses and households, came to 199.2 billion euros in 2025, or 6.7 percent of GDP. But the share is lower than in the mid-1990s, and UNESCO data show it slipping from 5.5 percent in 2017 to 5.3 percent in 2022. According to the OECD, about 11 percent of French secondary teachers are not fully qualified, compared with less than 3 percent in primary schools, and lower secondary classes average 26 pupils, against 23 across the OECD.

Only 4 percent of French teachers said their profession is valued in society. That is the lowest share of any country surveyed. The OECD average is 22 percent.

## The government’s answer

On October 4, [Café pédagogique reported](https://www.cafepedagogique.net/2026/10/05/le-premier-ministre-lance-cinq-chantiers-pour-repondre-a-la-colere-des-lyceens/), Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu wrote to seven ministers ordering five projects: replacing absent teachers, improving school buildings, reorganising the school day, making Parcoursup clearer, and giving student councils more weight. According to [franceinfo](https://www.franceinfo.fr/societe/education/blocage-des-lycees/sebastien-lecornu-adresse-une-feuille-de-route-de-cinq-chantiers-a-ses-ministres-et-demande-des-decisions-avant-la-fin-du-mois-pour-repondre-au-mouvement-lyceen_8222518.html), he wants decisions before the end of October. He also opened an online consultation. “High school students’ voices are precious and must be heard,” he wrote on X. When Business Insider published, more than 43,500 people had taken part.

In a televised address on Wednesday, Lecornu said the protesters’ anger “did not come out of nowhere” and acknowledged the public’s “fatigue” after a string of crises. His concrete offer was fuel. France will release 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic reserves at cost price, stock bought before the US-Iran war drove up global energy prices, which he said would cut pump prices by 12 to 18 euro cents a litre. One French business outlet, [Économie Matin, noted](https://www.economiematin.fr/allocution-sebastien-lecornu-mesures-lyceens-carburant-agriculteurs) that he gave no figure for extra replacement staff and no budget for renovations.

So the children asked for teachers and got a consultation. Drivers got cheaper diesel. It is an old habit of governments with empty coffers to hand out what is already in the warehouse.

## The ledger

The coffers really are empty. Accounts of the budget Lecornu must pass differ: CNBC says it involves slashing around 43 billion euros in public spending, while Al Jazeera says the proposed 2027 budget seeks 54 billion euros in savings. It includes a freeze on state salaries worth about 2 billion euros, which brought teachers into the [nationwide public sector strike of September 29](https://rews.cc/a/french-students-clash-with-police-as-unions-strike-over-budg-c0dfbb). Lecornu has no majority in parliament, and analysts say he may resort to emergency powers, the move that brought down some of his predecessors. France has had six prime ministers in five years.

The bond market is watching. France’s benchmark borrowing cost has risen by around 1.26 percentage points this year to its highest level since 2002, and its risk premium over Germany has nearly doubled. The 10-year yield stood at around 4.9% on Thursday. The deficit is projected at 5.4% this year, and Lecornu wants it down to 5% by 2027.

> “It is parliament’s responsibility, indeed its foremost responsibility, to provide the country with a budget. I therefore appeal to everyone’s patriotism so that the ongoing discussions lead to the necessary compromise.”

Marine Le Pen, the National Rally candidate widely considered a frontrunner for 2027, promised this week to bring the deficit below 3% within 18 months. The market “remains unconvinced (correctly) about her promises,” wrote Davide Oneglia of TS Lombard: French yields fell after her speech, but the spread over Germany soon widened back to where it had been.

Franceinfo reports that the first progress report on replacing absent teachers is due on October 16. The pupils who walked out of a school in Créteil in September did not wait for it.

## Sources

- [School protests and blockades resume in France despite PM's promise to act](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/8/school-protests-blockades-resume-in-france-despite-pms-promise-to-act) — aljazeera.com
- [France to release diesel reserves as student protests resume](https://cnbc.com/2026/10/08/france-diesel-reserves-protests.html) — cnbc.com
- [Fires, barricades and fraternité: 7 photos show the scale of protests sweeping France](https://www.businessinsider.com/france-protests-photos-scale-high-school-2026-10) — Business Insider
- [How much does France spend on education compared with the rest of Europe?](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/8/how-much-does-france-spend-on-education-compared-with-the-rest-of-europe) — aljazeera.com