Greta Thunberg Joins French School Blockade and Warns 'Our Future Is Being Robbed' as Protests Resume

Greta Thunberg joined pupils outside a secondary school in Saint-Denis on Tuesday, 13 October, expressing support for their campaign for better-funded education as demonstrations continued across France.

The Swedish climate campaigner told reporters outside Lycée Paul-Eluard that young people were being excluded from discussions about their future and that schools were not receiving the investment they needed.

Her appearance came during a fifth national day of action, as the French government reported fewer school closures and student organisations pressed their demands ahead of planned ministerial talks.

Thunberg Backs Pupils in Saint-Denis

More than a hundred young people had gathered outside the school when Thunberg arrived, according to a report published by L'Avenir.

She rejected the suggestion that pupils should abandon their campaign, saying those gathered would continue fighting for their future. She also described herself as extremely proud of French students.

Around 20 lawyers attended the blockade. Romain Ruiz, a member of the Paris bar and co-founder of the Colère noire collective, told AFP that they intended to form a cordon between police and pupils if tensions rose.

The lawyers criticised the confiscation of protest placards and what they described as attempts to obstruct the movement. Their presence reflected concerns about how demonstrations involving school-age protesters were being policed.

What French Pupils Are Demanding

The movement began with a blockade at Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil on 21 September before spreading to other towns and cities.

Amnesty International France identified demands for more teachers, smaller classes, improved school buildings and additional support staff. The organisation has also monitored the authorities' response to the demonstrations.

AFP reported that the Union syndicale lycéenne was seeking a €10 billion plan for secondary schools and abolition of Parcoursup, France's higher-education admissions platform.

Those demands extend beyond conditions at an individual school. They concern both the resources available to pupils during secondary education and the system governing their next stage of study.

Policing Comes Under Scrutiny

Amnesty criticised what it described as disproportionate police force, including tear gas, baton use and mass arrests.

Citing Interior Ministry figures, the organisation reported more than 5,000 arrests between 21 September and 2 October. It also reported that a 16-year-old in Tours lost sight in his right eye, while acknowledging that some protesters had carried out acts of violence.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told the Senate that 36 police-conduct investigations had been opened, according to AFP. These included four concerning injuries resulting in mutilation and six involving other significant injuries.

The investigations represent official scrutiny of the incidents. Their opening does not, by itself, establish misconduct in each case.

Government Reports Fewer School Closures

Tuesday's action included school blockades and marches in Paris and elsewhere. The Interior Ministry estimated national turnout at 161,500, while a coalition of youth organisations put the figure at 480,000.

The previous Tuesday's estimates ranged from 266,000 to 450,000. The competing figures therefore give different indications of whether participation declined or increased.

Separately, the Education Ministry reported 214 school closures on Tuesday, compared with 800 on 6 October. Closure figures measure disruption at schools, rather than the total number of people demonstrating.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray described the movement as declining. He also said deployment of 3,000 replacement teachers, announced the previous week, had begun in schools facing the most acute difficulties.

Several student and school-pupil organisations were due to meet the education and higher-education ministers on Thursday afternoon. Protest organisers also called for participation in demonstrations over living costs on Saturday, when the two-week school holidays begin.

The scheduled talks and further protest call provide the next steps for a movement seeking changes to education funding and conditions, alongside answers about the policing of its demonstrations.