The Paris
Schools
French PM holds crisis meeting as student protests spread nationwide
High school protests in France spread to universities on Thursday as students demanding more funding, smaller classes and the replacement of absent teachers continued blockades across the country. The government has announced a new platform to hear high school students' grievance...
Protests continue at French schools as tensions rise over education conditions
Students continued to protest at schools in France, demanding more resources and better learning conditions, while tensions and vandalism were reported around several schools in Rennes....
Paris suburbs students speak out about injustice amid school blockades
In the working-class suburbs of Aubervilliers and Montreuil, protesting students criticized a lack of resources and expressed the feeling of being left out, while rejecting claims that they are manipulated by radical-left politicians....
French students blockade schools nationwide to demand more resources
Hundreds of secondary school students blocked school entrances in Rennes and Paris during a national day of action, calling for more staff and funding for education....
French PM warns against 'irresponsible' escalation of high school demonstrations
In a student protest movement already spreading to cities beyond the Paris region, teenagers have been blockading their schools and demonstrating since last week to protest a string of grievances, including overcrowded classes, heavy workloads and teacher shortages....
Long queues as France’s €1 student meals draw crowds
France’s new €1 university meal scheme has attracted large numbers of students, with long queues reported at canteens in Paris. While some students welcome the cheaper meals, staff warn that the extra demand is putting pressure on space, equipment and staffing....
French pilot and cabin crew unions call for strike during Autumn holidays
Pilots and cabin crew unions in France have called a nationwide five-day strike to coincide with the start of the Toussaint school holidays in October....
Meloni announces ban on burqa and niqab in Italian schools and cap on foreign students
Giorgia Meloni on Sunday announced plans to ban full veils in Italian schools and curb the enrollment of foreign students who do not speak Italian, echoing rules in other EU states. Here's a comparison of other EU countries' rules on this topic....
PODCAST 🎧: Could France really favour the French over foreigners and who derailed the Normandy train?
The Talking France podcast is back with another episode, exploring one of far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s most controversial proposals, the strange story behind a train derailment in rural Normandy, the challenges facing France’s education system and the strength of the French f...
Americans in France: French tipping culture, school lunches and the new EU banking law
From how US banking is affected by a new EU law to how Americans are targeted for tips, via French school lunches, here's our latest newsletter for Americans in France and those planning a move....
New laws, banking rules, and must-visit exhibitions: 6 essential articles for life in France
The new laws taking effect in France this autumn, how new EU banking rules could affect you, French schools’ international ranking woes – and how to speak verlan....
Nour Elassy, Gaza-born poet and refugee in France: 'I live with the guilt of having left my loved ones behind'
In 2025, the 23-year-old student left her family in the enclave after Israel approved her evacuation, allowing her to attend classes in Paris. She recently published a poetry collection evoking a world engulfed by the destruction of the Palestinian territory....
Key dates: New laws in France this Autumn
From a ban on phones in French high schools to the rollout of electronic invoicing, and a law on assisted dying, here are some of the legal changes that are happening in France this autumn....
Far-right defendants confront violent past at Paris trial over murder of Argentine rugby star
Loïk Le Priol and Romain Bouvier went on trial in the Paris criminal court on Monday for shooting and killing former rugby player Federico Martin Aramburu in March 2022. Both were members of Groupe Union Défense (GUD), a far-right student group, before it was disbanded in 2024....
PISA 2025: Unprecedented drop in French students' performance echoes worldwide decline
Reading and maths scores for 15-year-olds in France have fallen to their lowest levels since 2000, mirroring trends seen in comparable countries. Among the reasons cited to explain this global phenomenon are attitudes toward learning, the role of digital technology, the lasting e...
In this French city, social diversity in schools has almost disappeared
According to studies, the southern city of Perpignan is the most educationally segregated in France. It's divided between private schools, which rank among the most privileged in the country, and public schools, which, in almost every case, sit at the exact opposite end of the so...
France's education system struggles to adapt to the challenges of AI: 'An immediate answer kills the desire to learn'
While generative artificial intelligence has become part of students' lives, it is difficult to know what changes it will bring.
France's school uniform experiment unravels with only mixed results
Two years after France began trialling uniforms in schools, the experiment is sputtering to a close after failing to convince pupils or teachers.
'Mini-dictatorship': Students slam Argentina-run residence in Paris
Weeks before President Javier Milei visits France, scrutiny has grown around an Argentina-run university residence in Paris supposed to promote peaceful coexistence but which activists say instead restricts lodger freedoms and hosts European far-right figures....
What's behind France's plan to survey school children on sexual violence?
For the first time, France's annual school questionnaire on bullying — which has been handed out to pupils since 2023 — will include questions on sexual violence. Pupils will be able to choose whether or not they wish to remain anonymous in this questionnaire, to be distributed i...
Even at Elysée, phones are handed in, Macron tells French pupils
Visiting a school in the southern town of Mende, the French president defended a ban on smartphones in schools, arguing they are a distraction and an obstacle to learning....
French schools start new year in shadow of summer cyberattack
Millions of pupils are returning to classrooms across France on Tuesday for the start of the new school year, with some schools forced to fall back on paper timetables and registers after a major cyberattack disrupted education systems over the summer....
French high schools scramble to work out rules as phone ban takes effect
The new school year starts on Tuesday in France, and with it comes a new rule: mobile phones will no longer be allowed in high schools. The ban came into force a week before the first day of term, leaving schools with little time to work out how to put it into practice....