School protests resume in France after holiday

School pupils in France have resumed protests after the autumn holiday, with reports of attempted blockades at secondary schools in Paris, Marseille and Rennes. Education Minister Edouard Geffray said only a fraction of schools nationwide had been affected and urged pupils to return to class so they could prepare for their exams.

The protests follow weeks of demonstrations over the state of education, including demands to renovate ageing school buildings. The government has announced measures, but some pupils say they do not go far enough.

In Marseille, bins were placed outside a school entrance on Monday morning in protest. A 16-year-old pupil there said the movement had resumed because the answers they had supposedly been given were “clearly not enough”.

The renewed action follows a month of protests during which pupils also blocked the entrances to the Louvre, forcing the museum to close.