French pupils barricade dozens of schools with wheelie bins again as unions plan a nationwide strike on Thursday

Trade unions have announced a nationwide strike for Thursday, uniting workers from the railways, schools and private industry in demonstrations across France in solidarity with students calling for better school conditions and relief from soaring living costs. Student union leaders have brushed aside Emmanuel Macron's calls to lift the lycées blockades, which are now in their third month and constitute one of the most serious social crises of his presidency.

By 8:30 GMT on Monday, 41 high schools — around 1% of all such schools across the country — remained blockaded, a sharp fall from the hundreds affected before the two-week half-term break.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray offered to cap class sizes at 28, channel €4 billion into school renovations and create 15,000 new university places, but student representatives rejected the package.

University students' unions plan to bring faculties into the blockades from Tuesday, widening the protest beyond the secondary school sector.