On Thursday, Oct. 8, the fourth major day of the movement drew 71,500 people across France, 24,500 of them in Paris, according to the Interior Ministry. The same tally counts 504 arrests and 48 police officers and gendarmes injured. Most schools have reopened, but blockades of high schools and universities persist (Le Monde). Clashes broke out at Place de la Bastille in the evening (Le Figaro, Le Monde). On TF1’s 8 p.m. news, National Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced that 3,000 substitute teachers would arrive in the 514 schools that need them most, between Friday and Tuesday. The intersyndicale is calling for a new day of action on Tuesday, Oct. 13. According to Odoxa for Le Figaro, 63% of French people consider the anger justified and 58% think the police are not responsible for the violence. About twenty families have referred the matter to the Defender of Rights, according to Le Figaro. On fuel, Sébastien Lecornu is meeting distributors on Monday and hopes for a price drop in “early November” (Le Monde, Le Figaro).
The government is responding with concrete means for the first time, but the timetable is short: the substitutes arrive by Tuesday, the day of the next mobilization. Questions about policing now weigh as much as the schools. For the Prime Minister, this front adds to debt, fuel and the farmers’ anger.
If you have a child in high school, check the school’s online portal: closures and replacements vary from one school to the next. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, allow for possible disruption to classes and transport in big cities.
The students have won a first answer with figures in just a few days. The movement keeps the support of a majority of public opinion, and its demands concern real resources.
Replacing “misassigned” teachers does not create posts, and nothing guarantees that the 514 schools targeted will be the ones the movement is calling for. Violence on the fringes of the marches blurs the message.
Watch two numbers: how many high schools are still blocked on Monday and turnout on Tuesday the 13th. If the 3,000 substitutes are visible in schools by then, the pressure may ease; if not, Tuesday will be harder for Matignon. The protester figures come only from the Interior Ministry, with no independent count.
Le Monde (Interior Ministry tally, Mr. Geffray’s announcements, Oct. 8) · Le Figaro (Bastille, Odoxa poll, Defender of Rights) · France 24 (Lecornu, Oct. 13, Iran) · franceinfo (Assas, Reims) · fuel: Le Monde, Le Figaro · protester tally outside the ministry not known
High school movement: 71,500 protesters on Thursday, 3,000 substitutes promised and a new day of action on Tuesday
The government promises 3,000 substitute teachers by Tuesday, the day of a new mobilization. The anger is not subsiding, and the Prime Minister is caught between several crises.
On Thursday, Oct. 8, the fourth major day of the high school movement drew 71,500 people across France, 24,500 of them in Paris, according to the Interior Ministry, which counts 504 arrests and 48 police officers and gendarmes injured. Most schools have reopened, but blockades of high schools and universities remain. Assas, a university faculty usually classed on the right, saw its first blockade, as did prestigious Paris high schools, according to franceinfo. Clashes broke out at Place de la Bastille in the evening (Le Figaro, Le Monde). In Reims, a police officer was hit in the face by mortar fire, according to franceinfo. Le Monde notes that France’s situation, between record debt and high school protests, is being followed well beyond its borders.
On Thursday evening, on TF1’s news, National Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced that 3,000 substitute teachers would arrive in the 514 schools that need them most, by Tuesday (Le Monde, Le Figaro). The intersyndicale, the unions’ joint front, is calling for a new day of action on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The anger is not subsiding despite the address by Sébastien Lecornu, hemmed in by crises, notes France 24: high schoolers, debt, fuel, farmers. On fuel, the Prime Minister is meeting distributors on Monday and hopes for a price drop in “early November” (Le Monde). According to an Odoxa poll for Le Figaro, 63% of French people consider the anger justified and 58% think the police are not responsible for the violence. About twenty families have referred the matter to the Defender of Rights (Le Figaro). Tehran criticizes the crackdown; Paris denounces an Iranian disinformation campaign and has summoned Iran’s ambassador (France 24). France 24 adds that other sectors could mobilize in turn. What follows will play out in three stages: the arrival of the substitutes, Monday’s meeting on fuel, then the street on Tuesday.