In 2018-2019, Jean-Michel Blanquer, who was then the prime minister of National Education under President Emmanuel Macron, claimed that there were no significant student movements opposing the high school reform at that time. He suggested that the current wave of student protests reflects a broader sense of dissatisfaction rather than a specific issue with the reform. When asked about the reform, which included the elimination of the S, ES, and L tracks—three distinct academic pathways in French high schools—Blanquer noted that very few students would want to return to the previous system. He emphasized that the reform's main goal was to give students more choice in their academic paths, stating that for the first time in 50 years, the curriculum had been changed to raise the overall standards of education. Physics and chemistry teachers, who have seen the increased demands of the new programs, can attest to this shift. On the social side, Blanquer acknowledged that life can be difficult for some families and admitted that the roots of the current mobilization began about ten days prior. He suggested that it would have been better to address the concerns earlier. It is worth noting that Blanquer had experience in managing protests, having successfully suppressed a demonstration in its early stages at that time. Blanquer concluded that the first five-year term of the reform was more successful than the second, referring to "zigzags between 2022 and 2027" as a period of inconsistency. He also quietly supported his former DGESCO, Édouard Geffray, who had previously held a key position in the French education system, noting that Geffray has a deep understanding of the education system.