The Debate - France's fed-up youth: Can presidential candidates connect with student movement?

France 24 · François PICARD, Rebecca GNIGNATI, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda HABIP, Charles WENTE · 2026-10-13 18:10 UTC

Will it be autumn recess to the rescue for a beleaguered French government? Ministers are no doubt counting the days until the school holidays start on Friday evening, in the hopes that an unexpected student movement disappears as quickly as it materialised. The movement sparked three weeks ago by deteriorating conditions in a Paris-area high school may indeed take a leave of absence, but what about demands for a generation that feels left behind by cost cutting? Only one party has sided vocally with the students since the very start: Jean-Luc Mélenchon's far-left France Unbowed.

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