French students set out ten demands as government prepares October response

French student protesters have set out ten demands covering school buildings, staffing and university access as demonstrations spread across France. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has asked ministers to prepare proposals by the end of October, FRANCE 24 reported on 7 October. The government has yet to set out the measures it will propose or how they would be funded.

The demands come after what FRANCE 24 described as the movement’s largest day of demonstrations so far on 6 October. The union’s published platform seeks immediate action alongside longer-term changes to education. Its proposals span conditions in classrooms and university buildings, the number of staff available to students, admissions and the cost of studying.

How the French school protests began

FRANCE 24 traced the first protest to Saint-Exupéry high school in Créteil, outside Paris. Teachers there went on strike on 17 September over staff shortages. Students joined them that evening and planned a protest for the next morning. The dispute at one school has since become a national movement, according to the broadcaster’s account.

A maths teacher at Saint-Exupéry told France Inter, as quoted by FRANCE 24, that the school was short of teachers in several subjects and that its nurse was on sick leave. FRANCE 24 also cited a major public-school staff union’s finding that more than half of middle and high schools lacked at least one teacher, while 69% lacked at least one member of teaching or support staff. Those figures are the union finding reported by FRANCE 24; they do not describe conditions at every school.

What students want changed in schools

L’Union Étudiante calls for an emergency programme to renovate deteriorated school and university buildings. Its platform asks for facilities that can cope better with heat and cold, as well as enough staff and equipment to maintain clean, working toilets. FRANCE 24 reported students’ accounts of damaged facilities and pests. Those accounts illustrate complaints behind the demand; the report does not establish that such conditions are uniform across France.

Staffing is another central demand. The union wants additional teaching posts so that every class has a teacher. It also calls for at least one nurse, one psychologist and one guidance counsellor for every 500 pupils in each establishment. Its platform seeks additional support staff posts, including 800 more positions for staff who assist pupils with disabilities. These are proposed staffing levels, not measures already in force.

The platform also calls for changes to school and university schedules. Among its specific proposals is a lunch break of at least 90 minutes, which the union says would give pupils and students better conditions in which to eat. It wants a broader review of daily schedules and a reversal of changes to the baccalauréat and high-school system.

What the platform says about university access and living costs

On admissions, L’Union Étudiante wants to end selection through the Parcoursup and Mon Master platforms and create 250,000 additional higher-education places from the next academic year. Its proposal would retain central application platforms to show available courses while removing selection through them. These changes are demands in the union’s platform; the supplied account of Lecornu’s response establishes only that ministers have been asked to prepare proposals.

The union also seeks higher student grants, broader housing support and effective access to a one-euro meal for all students. Its platform proposes increasing grants by €200 a month, paying them for twelve months and extending eligibility to 300,000 more students. These figures describe the scale of the union’s requests, not commitments made by the government.

When the government is expected to respond

Lecornu has asked ministers to send proposals by the end of October, FRANCE 24 reported. That timetable gives protesters a date for a government response, but it does not establish which demands ministers will accept. FRANCE 24 said finding money for education reforms would be difficult amid debate over France’s strained 2027 budget. The proposals, their funding and their effect on the protests remain unresolved.