Former national education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told a Senate committee on Wednesday that it has become too easy to single out Parcoursup as the cause of the current lycée crisis, according to BFM. Appearing before the upper house's culture, education, communication and sport commission, he argued that the admissions platform is being treated as a convenient target rather than examined on its merits.
"It is always very easy to find a scapegoat like Parcoursup," Blanquer said, a day after the government unveiled a series of measures aimed at calming lycéens. He added that he was plainly not the person who designed the platform "on the corner of a table," and said he found it striking that he was the only one speaking up for it, BFM reports.
His appearance came as the standoff between the government and student unions continued. Despite Monday's announcements, the intersyndicale is still calling for mobilisation at the end of the week, and two marches have been proposed in Paris. The government is planning a police deployment "as large as last Saturday's," according to BFM.
Why it matters
The dispute has moved well beyond the technical workings of a university admissions website. What began as anger over the lycée reform of 2018 and the way Parcoursup allocates places has grown into a broader confrontation, with damage in several cities, a contested security bill and now a debate over the state's response. How the government handles the coming days will shape whether the movement loses momentum or hardens.
Blanquer used his Senate appearance to push back on two specific criticisms of the 2018 reform: that it overloaded pupils' timetables and that it left them worse off. He conceded that the reform had made schedules more complicated, but rejected the claim that lycéens now face lessons from 8am to 6pm every day of the week. Some days may run that long, he said, but such realities have always existed, BFM reports.
He described the strain on timetables as a possible problem, but one that follows from the freedom pupils now have to choose their specialities. On the reform as a whole, he urged critics not to "throw several babies out with the bathwater," pointing to new subjects, revised curricula and the ability for lycéens to pick their own options and specialities. Some, he said, would rather discard the entire package because slogans are easier than arguments.
A government under pressure on several fronts
The Senate hearing unfolded against a busy day in Paris. A defence and national security council was meeting at the Élysée to discuss the demonstrations planned for the weekend in several French cities, BFM reported. Overnight, the Senate adopted the government's "casseurs-payeurs" bill, which ministers have presented as their answer to the damage caused on the margins of the 17 October protests. Before any offenders are asked to pay, however, the state is preparing to spend: a support fund offering up to €10,000 for businesses hardest hit by looting is due to be set up shortly.
The city of Paris said it would contribute €3 million to the emergency and security fund for shops damaged in the unrest. That sum comes on top of €10 million pledged by the regional authority and a contribution from the Ile-de-France chamber of commerce and industry, the city said in a statement. To simplify matters, businesses will file a single application with the chamber.
Away from the capital, the mayor of Limoges, Guillaume Guérin, criticised the president's handling of the fire at his city's town hall. Guérin, a Les Républicains–Nouvelle Énergie mayor, told BFMTV-RMC that Emmanuel Macron had neither called nor texted him, while the prime minister had come immediately and acted with conviction. He added that he had received an email from US Vice-President JD Vance. Guérin said he was worried by the social, societal and political tension in the country, and by the sense that voters had already settled on a second-round contest between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen. He urged the government to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
In Saint-Denis, the LFI mayor, Bally Bagayoko, said he had filed a complaint after receiving racist remarks and death threats on social media, and called a gathering outside the town hall from 5.30pm in tribute to the victims of the racist attack in Trappes and La Verrière last Friday.
Unions say the account does not add up
For several teachers' union representatives, Monday's announcements fall short. Several have called for the mobilisation to continue on Saturday 31 October, BFM reports. The government's package included an overhaul of Parcoursup and a renovation programme for school buildings, which ministers hope will lower the temperature.
Blanquer's defence of the 2018 reform also drew attention to the gap between his position and that of the current government, which has now promised to rework the very admissions system he championed. His remark that he was alone in defending Parcoursup suggested he sees the platform as a structural feature of the system rather than the root of the discontent.
The week ahead will test whether the government's concessions and its policing plans can together drain the movement. Saturday's turnout, and whether the marches in Paris pass off calmly, will be the first clear signal.
