‘We’re not asking for luxury’: school protesters in Paris suburb feel abandoned by French state
Students in the Paris suburb of Sevran are protesting against poor conditions in French schools, including overcrowding and a lack of resources. The movement is part of a broader national wave of protests regarding inequality in the education system.
Why it matters
The protests highlight systemic issues in the French public education sector and growing social unrest among youth.
A sign reading ‘Education in peril – angry youth’ on the gates of the Lycée Blaise-Cendrars in Sevran. A sign reading ‘Education in peril – angry youth’ on the gates of the Lycée Blaise-Cendrars in Sevran. France ‘We’re not asking for luxury’: school protesters in Paris suburb feel abandoned by French state Students say they are desperate to get back to class but conditions are so bad that the protests must continue
Angelique Chrisafis in Sevran Sat 10 Oct 2026 10.00 BST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google O n a normal school day, Mohammed, 17, wakes at 6am, cares for his younger siblings to help his single mother who works as a security guard, then takes two crowded buses and a local train to get to his high school in Sevran, a low-income banlieue town in the suburbs north-east of Paris.
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