Protests continued in front of high schools on Friday, October 2, with law enforcement stepping in and CRS facing rocks and smoke bombs. Since yesterday, when students began mobilizing at Ambroise Vollard (Saint-Pierre) and Roland Garros (Le Tampon), the movement has expanded today to the François de Mahy high school in Saint-Pierre, the Verger high school in Sainte-Marie, and Georges Brassens in Sainte-Clotilde, to demand, among other things, better learning conditions. For high school students in Reunion, this Friday, October 2, is marked by an intensification of protests in front of their schools. In addition to students from Ambroise Vollard and Roland Garros in the south, the movement has spread to the north with gatherings in Sainte-Marie and Sainte-Clotilde. Among their demands, students on the island are asking for more resources for the Pass Culture, less crowded classes, better adapted schools for the heat, and more consideration regarding the deterioration and lack of maintenance of the schools. Furthermore, the students denounce the lack of teachers, especially for substitutes, with the recent elimination of 65 positions in secondary education on the island. Yesterday in Tampon, a delegation of students was received to discuss these issues by the mayor Alexis Chaussalet, who himself had participated in such movements in his youth. Today, the rectorate is organizing an Academic Council for High School Life (CAVL) to try to calm tensions and allow students to express their demands. However, this Friday morning, the CRS intervened in front of the François de Mahy high school in Saint-Pierre. One could see young people in hoods confronting law enforcement, with rocks and smoke bombs. Since late September, these gatherings began in front of high schools in the Hexagon, in hundreds of schools, with a list of demands: more resources for the National Education, more teachers, better study conditions, and fewer inequalities between schools. The youth of the island then join this national movement. The FSU (Territorial Unified Trade Union) supports the students' demands and states that "the students' learning conditions and the staff's working conditions are inseparable." The union also denounces understaffing, lack of resources, and the difficulties in maintaining the schools. It demands rapid consultation, a recruitment and replacement plan for staff, and a funded renovation program for high schools. Facing tensions, the FSU still calls for preserving safety and the freedoms of mobilization, stating that "every reported act of violence must be examined seriously." The union's message is clear: "The youth need actions. Staff need resources." The high school students are expressing their anger. This anger is deep and concerns the material conditions of their studies as well as the shortcomings of the school system and the feeling of being invisible and disrespected in society. There was no announcement or warning. The high school students of Tampon de Saint-Pierre rose up on Thursday, October 1st. They are relaying a movement that, since the blockage of the Créteil high school on September 21st, has been strengthening in mainland France. In the absence of the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), the students from La Réunion organized themselves through social networks. "The message has been circulating on our Instagram groups for several weeks," says Fytia, a senior student. "We made posts and stories that touched many people." When I arrive in the late morning of October 1st, about forty demonstrators are scattered around the Ambroise Vollard high school. A young girl, decorated with messages written in marker on her body, walks decisively toward a small bush fire, an extinguisher under her arm. She carries an Algerian flag, one of several signs of the diversity of motivations. This is the last act of the first morning of mobilization. The anger has not subsided. Holding their banners, the students on strike want to express their concerns. They want to be heard. Tired of being the "invisible ones." "It's not that we are invisible," exclaims Emmanuel, a student who came to support his former classmates. "It's the media that make us invisible. The speeches are biased against students. Everyone saw those images of students who were made to kneel. It is a political will to make us invisible. The interest of these mobilizations is precisely to show that we are not going to let it happen." "We need a strong mobilization," the others applaud. Emmanuel's speech concerns them. The images of violent repression circulating on social media only reinforce their determination to express themselves. And the student legitimizes the violence of the demonstrators when it responds to institutional violence: "If we don't disturb, things won't move. That's why we need a strong mobilization and a real political will to change things." In fact, no violence was reported on the Saint-Pierre mobilization on that day. The high school girls who take the floor do not repeat the apology for revolt expressed by Emmanuel. Instead, they list multiple violations of their rights to study and live. "The last straw was the prohibition of phones," says Islya. "They want us to behave like adults while infantilizing us. And that doesn't go." When one says last straw, one says the vase overflowing. The discomfort starts from the particular to reach the general. Previous mood swings concerned the heat in summer, the malaise and the interventions of firefighters. The establishment has installed water fountains. But that is not enough in the eyes of Samira, who describes toilets that do not close, crumbling and moldy walls: "Students have allergy crises." A defective school system "This high school was built to accommodate 900 students and it accommodates 1,400. We have overcrowded classes with 35 students," says Fytia. "Sometimes we can't even sit in class. The cafeteria is overcrowded. Some students don't even have enough to eat. The absent teachers are not replaced. And after that, we are surprised that France is last in world rankings. But it's because we have a defective school system..." The frustration is general, the students mention the elimination of teacher positions: more than 4,000 this year. La Réunion is not exempt. They know that many of their teachers support them as long as all are fighting to improve their working conditions. "Our schedules are overloaded. We work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. We have to get up at 5 a.m. to get to high school," exclaims Noémie. Samira wrote on her sign: "Are we students or under arrest?" "At what point can students rest or take time for their extracurricular activities," asks Islya. "Today, students no longer have time to live..." To the "subway-work-sleep" that denounced the infernal paces of the 1960s-70s, the 2026 high school students add: "We don't have time for ourselves. It's really school, school, school." "It's hard not being able to vote" The demonstrators repeat wanting to be heard... by their principal, by the rectorate, by the National Education and beyond. "The more the movement grows in scope, the more we will be able to be heard. Because today, no one listens to us when we speak," insists Islya. Quickly, the demands displayed go beyond their high school. It is not Ambroise-Vollard that is at the heart of their concerns but a much more general malaise. They take note of the academy's proposals to organize meetings, but they warn in advance: "If we have to make our voices heard again, we will surely do it again." The images of violence accompanying some of the high school mobilizations have both motivated and frightened them. "We do not accept the violence that silences our voices. We are solidary with those who were hit. Even though we are always a bit afraid, we have succeeded here in organizing a peaceful demonstration that had an impact because we touched several media in La Réunion." The students of Ambroise Vollard have granted themselves the right to demonstrate, aware that they are going through an eminently political period. They have one regret left: "It's very hard not being able to vote because we are not in the right age group even though we have done our research and have our opinions."