Wire reporting: (Reuters, via SCMP), (AFP, via CNA)

French high school students tried to blockade some campuses on Monday after a two-week autumn break, on a smaller scale than the walkouts that had closed hundreds of schools before the holidays, according to the Education Ministry and French media cited by international outlets^1,2,4.

By 0830 GMT, the ministry said 41 high schools — about 1 percent of those nationwide — were blockaded^1,2. Channel NewsAsia, carrying AFP, said 1 percent of about 3,700 lycees were blockaded⁴. Attempts were reported in Paris, Marseille and Rennes^1,2. Education Minister Edouard Geffray told France Inter the blockades were very marginal and that protests are allowed but blocking access is illegal². Channel NewsAsia reported he warned that hundreds of thousands of students facing the baccalaureate had already missed weeks of class⁴.

The movement began in Paris suburbs in September over school conditions and later mixed with cost-of-living protests that drew unions and, last month, clashes with police and looting in several cities^1,2,4. Channel NewsAsia reported a third consecutive weekend of large street demonstrations on Saturday⁴. Students have sought school renovation, more teachers, more university places and changes to an admissions system they call unfair². Geffray last week offered a class-size cap of 28, 4 billion euros for renovations, 15,000 extra higher-education places and a new admissions system by 2028; student representatives said that was not enough^2,4. In Marseille, 16-year-old Meriem told AFP, "We've resumed the movement because we were supposedly given answers, but... it's clearly not enough"^2,4.

President Emmanuel Macron called for classes to resume calmly and said young people had been heard, Channel NewsAsia reported⁴. Police were present without full riot gear, according to television footage described by France 24². Whether Monday's smaller blockades grow after the break was not yet clear^1,2,4.