Since March, many high schools in France have been blockaded in protest against austerity and the militarization of youth. Although rarely mentioned in social struggles, high school students are determined not to be silenced. At the end of January, the austerity budget was passed, and the announcements followed: more than 4,000 job cuts in the national education system for the start of the 2026 school year. The overall teaching hours allocated to schools have been drastically reduced: numerous hours have been cut. The result: ever-increasing class sizes, the elimination of specialized courses and electives, and the end of smaller class sizes. The government has made its choice: war and militarization, by allocating billions to remilitarize the country in preparation for imperialist wars. At a time when the army is intervening in schools, a choice had to be made: provide students with a suitable learning environment, or give money to the ultra-rich and large corporations.
Education staff and high school students are fighting together through blockades and demonstrations. In Le Havre, Paris, Rennes, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, and elsewhere, high schools have been very active lately, with significant mobilization, blockades, and struggles against their policies! The institutions' response is always the same: repression. Detentions, legal proceedings, disciplinary actions.
On March 24, a coordinated initiative called "High School Students Against War" took place in Grenoble, Marseille, Rennes, and Paris. Blockades, leaflet distribution, and demonstrations were held on the same day under a clear slogan: down with the militarization of youth! This kind of initiative is a good thing for the high school student movement, which is often limited to the local level within its city. The day of mobilization on September 10, 2025, was already heavily impacted, with around a hundred high schools disrupted across the country.
Young people are rebelling, organizing, and campaigning against the attacks they face. Regardless of the propaganda from the bourgeoisie and their media mouthpieces, young people are thinking about their future. They want an education that isn't being squeezed dry by budget cuts. An education that offers them a future other than joining the army and dying on the front lines. An education that allows them to pursue higher education without being discriminated against. They want a society that mobilizes to defend our social gains, against the ecological crises, against the far right, and against the ongoing genocides supported by our countries. They won't be silenced, and that's what disturbs our entire ruling class.
Let's support the high school student mobilizations and their methods of action! Faced with austerity policies in secondary education and the militarization of our youth, let's organize student self-defense. End the prosecutions for all repressed female students! No to their policies! No to their wars! Long live student struggles!
Albane (UCL Marseille) and Tommy (UCL Lyon)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Budget-austeritaire-et-militarisation-Des-heures-pour-nos-lycees-pas-pour-l
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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