French students continued high school blockades and took to the streets on Tuesday (October 6) in the morning of a nationwide day of protests in support of the youth-led movement demanding that President Emmanuel Macron's cash-strapped government tackle understaffed and dilapidated schools.

Teenage students, including private and public school and preparatory class students, stood on barricades made of trash cans in front of schools in Paris and Strasbourg.

“For us, it’s first of all in support of the high school students who started blockades a few days ago,” preparatory class student Hugo Vetzel said. “I think this is not a fight of a few handful of people, but a more global fight for the youth.”

Tuesday's demonstrations come after a fortnight of protests which began in Paris's deprived suburbs before spreading across the country. The government responded with riot police, saying the movement had now morphed into urban violence.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered his ministers to tackle the students' leading demands. Those include ensuring absent teachers are replaced, reviewing the length of the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. school day and the need for longer lunch breaks.

The government would also look at repairs needed to aging school buildings, said Lecornu, who demanded ministers send in their first proposals by the end of October.

The protests have piled pressure on a government trying to narrow a ballooning budget deficit as investor concerns about France's growing debt pile, weak growth and reluctance to rein in spending push bond yields higher. The yield on France's 10-year bonds briefly hit a 24-year high of over 5% last week.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CHANTING AND CLAPPING OUTSIDE LAMARTINE HIGH SCHOOL

STRASBOURG, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

2. PREPARATORY CLASS STUDENTS OUTSIDE SCHOOL

3. SIGN FOR FUSTEL DE COULANGES HIGH SCHOOL

4. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BLOCKING SCHOOL ENTRANCE

5. BINS AND PROTEST BANNER

6. PROTESTERS DURING SCHOOL BLOCKADE

7. SIGN READING (French): “How will I finish high school now?”

8. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PREPARATORY CLASS STUDENT, HUGO VETZEL, SAYING:

“For us, it’s first of all in support of the high school students who started blockades a few days ago. I think we all have a role to play in this movement, and the more we are, the more we will be heard. And I think this is not a fight of a few handful of people, but a more global fight for the youth.”

9. SIGN READING (French): “Armament: an ogre that the state is feeding well”

10. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PREPARATORY CLASS STUDENT, HUGO VETZEL, SAYING:

“We feel despised, because when the answer is violence, that means in a way, democracy is no longer working. But we feel especially that there is such a gap between the elites and us, and we feel like we are creating unease because we are disrupting so much that they are using force to shut us up.”

11. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS OUTSIDE SCHOOL

12. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PREPARATORY CLASS STUDENT, MONA FALLACARA, SAYING:

“I am quite happy because for once, we see a real movement of the youth everywhere and we hear about it. But then what I deplore is that the media is showing more of the violence done by the students before their demands, which are vital. And yes, there is a bit of violence, but it’s not everywhere.”

13. PROTESTER HOLDING FRENCH FLAG

14. PROTESTERS

15. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PREPARATORY CLASS STUDENT, MONA FALLACARA, SAYING:

“France’s budget will come to a vote soon, so we hope there will be a higher budget for education. And for the presidential election next year as well, we hope for a bit of change after 10 years of (President Emmanuel) Macron heading the country.”

PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

16. PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DURING SCHOOL BLOCKADE, HOLDING MINUTE OF SILENCE IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL PEERS

17. VARIOUS OF STUDENTS DURING SCHOOL BLOCKADE