PARIS.- France's student movement carried its "Black Tuesday" into the streets of Paris on Tuesday after the police prefecture banned the planned march from the Panthéon to the employers' federation headquarters, with unions calling a last-minute demonstration in Jussieu instead and police expecting between 15,000 and 30,000 demonstrators in the capital.
The day began with blockades. According to the Ministry of National Education, 48 high schools were blockaded on Tuesday morning out of about 3,700, a level similar to Monday's, while 51 higher-education institutions reported disruptions. The student union Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) contested the official count, saying 500 establishments were blocked. In Paris, the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and Paris-Panthéon-Assas University were blockaded, one entrance to the Sorbonne was blocked, Paris-Dauphine University stayed closed at least until Friday, and Sorbonne Nouvelle closed one campus. In Rennes, about thirty students blockaded the Bréquigny high school around 7:30 a.m., and in Lyon 17 people were arrested, including three at the Jacques-Brel high school for fireworks, arson and vandalism.
The afternoon became the flashpoint. The prefecture banned the Interfac Île-de-France march between the Panthéon and the Medef headquarters, citing the incidents of October 17 and 24 and the influx of tourists, and proposed a route between Porte de Charenton and Porte de Montreuil. Student groups rejected that route and petitioned the administrative court, and in the early afternoon Interfac called the last-minute demonstration in Jussieu, in the 5th arrondissement, scheduled for 2 p.m. The movement, now six weeks old, demands more teachers and staff, smaller classes, renovated buildings, more university places and the elimination of the Parcoursup admissions platform. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on October 26 that Parcoursup would be replaced in 2028, with a cap of 28 students per class and 15,000 additional higher-education places, but the USL, the Union Étudiante and UNEF consider those measures insufficient, and Lecornu's office said he was ready to meet student representatives again next week.
The students have already announced the next step: on Thursday, November 5, they will join the cross-sector strike called by the CFDT, CGT, FO, Unsa and FSU unions, with new blockades and a mass street demonstration. United Nations human rights experts have condemned what they called the excessive use of force by French authorities against the student protests, warning that mass arrests and injuries were deterring demonstrators from exercising their fundamental rights.
Read more on The Wire Post: France's Black Tuesday Arrives as Students Block Schools Across France and UN Experts Warn Over Police Force, French Students Call a "Black Day" Tuesday and Mass Streets Thursday as Monday School Blockades Stay "Residual" and Emmanuel Macron Faces a New Week of School Blockades as French Students Return and Unions Call a Thursday Strike.
Sources: AP via Hürriyet Daily News; BFMTV via ANews and Press TV; Sortiraparis; French Ministry of National Education figures via BFMTV, November 3, 2026. The blockade counts differ sharply between the ministry and the student unions, as reported.