French Education Minister Edouard Geffray met student protest leaders in France on Thursday (October 8) as the government promised to address their grievances ‌about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave few specific details.

Speaking outside the education ministry, protest leader Marius Mesnil said the students wanted guarantees sooner rather than later.

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday.

The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped government under pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt and deficit.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 8, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. STUDENTS HOLDING WITH LARGE BANNER AND SIGNS / STUDENTS WALKING IN PROTEST

2. STUDENTS MARCHING, WOMAN HOLDING SIGN READING (French): "Our eyes see, our voices carry"

3. PEOPLE MARCHING, HOLDING SIGNS

4. PROTESTER HANGING ONTO LAMPPOST, WAVING FRENCH FLAG READING (French): “The heart is on the left”

5. PROTESTERS GATHERED, PERSON HOLDING SIGN READING (English): “If we burn, you burn with us”

6. PROTESTERS GATHERED, HOLDING BANNERS AND SIGNS

7. POLICE, PROTESTERS

8. VARIOUS OF POSTAL WORKERS MARCHING

9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PROTEST LEADER, MARIUS MESNIL, SAYING:

"We’ve been thrown crumbs, nothing at all, and led to believe we’ll get something later, but in the end, we get nothing. We remember the Yellow Vests and the lists of grievances — nothing came of them. We remember the Citizens' Convention on Children's Time—lots of proposals, but ultimately nothing. So, we aren't going to fall into that trap; we want guarantees right now. That’s why we’re going."

10. EXTERIOR OF EDUCATION MINISTRY

11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PROTEST LEADER, LOUIS LETOUBLON, SAYING:

"We want immediate answers to an immediate problem that high school students face every day. We believe this is simply a way for the government to dilute the problem, ultimately postponing it to avoid addressing it."

12. FRENCH EDUCATION MINISTER EDOUARD GEFFRAY AND STUDENT PROTEST LEADERS ENTERING ROOM

13. STUDENT PROTEST LEADERS SITTING DOWN

14. GEFFRAY SPEAKING

15. STUDENT PROTEST LEADERS SEATED