Youth Protests: ENS Paris-Saclay Joins France Universités’ Call to Action and Organizes a Debate
Health, environmental, and geopolitical crises, as well as social and regional inequalities: young people are directly confronted with the major challenges of our time and have high expectations for their future. Listening to young people means recognizing them as a source of ideas and as full-fledged participants in society.
Because ENS Paris-Saclay trains the teachers and researchers of tomorrow, it is particularly concerned with these issues. Education means not only imparting knowledge and skills, but also empowering each individual to understand the world, exercise critical thinking, engage in debate, and shape their own future.
ENS Paris-Saclay is deeply committed to freedom of expression, democratic debate, and dialogue. Violence and unrest, in all their forms, must be condemned without reservation: in a democracy, it is ideas that are pitted against one another.
In this spirit, on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, the School organized a morning of debates led by its faculty members to foster lively discussion at the heart of the institution. Among the topics discussed: What does the high school student movement reflect? What continuities exist between high school and university? How can we reconcile conflicting demands? How far do these radical actions go, and how is the government responding? What role do ENS students play in such a movement?
The ENS Paris-Saclay aims to remain a place where ideas can be freely debated, where dialogue is possible, and where every student can find their place. This is how we view our public service mission: to place our trust in our youth, to give them the means to learn, understand, and take action, and to build the future of our society together with them.
Success in higher education requires academic and living conditions that enable everyone to envision their future: equal access to education, diverse educational paths, support for students, and well-being. Providing every young person with academic conditions that match their aspirations is a goal we share.
The School reaffirms its commitment to an ambitious policy on education, higher education, and research, and to ensuring that every young person has the opportunity to study under decent conditions.