But the offer contained no major promise of new investment on a scale likely to appease protesters.
The government is wary of appearing to buy social peace because it knows France’s precarious debt situation is being followed closely by international money markets.
Reaction from student leaders has been guarded to say the least.
Nathanaël Combary, who represents the most moderate of the three main lycée unions Renouveau Lycéen (Lycée Renewal), said students were waiting to see how the promise was carried out in practice: “We’ve had some announcements which correspond to part of our demands. But obviously people want to see the money and more concrete results.”
“As long as we do not have €10bn on the table, we will continue our action,” said Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Etudiante (Student Union), which is close to the radical-left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party of presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Mélenchon praised Thursday’s demonstrations, saying on X that the students had “retaken the Bastille”.
But at the other end of the political spectrum, a spokesman for the hard-right National Rally (RN) condemned the government’s concessions.
“The message is: if you break things, you get given stuff,” said Laurent Jacobelli. “When you burn cars, attack police, you gain something in return. It’s the legitimisation of violence.”
The movement is the most serious student unrest in France in many years, and comes against a backdrop of rising tension in the country – with anger over rising fuel prices and distress in the farming sector also liable to trigger protests.
Next Saturday, 17 October, has been earmarked as a day of demonstrations by a revived “yellow vest” movement, which forced the government to halt a rise in fuel taxes after protests and riots in 2018.
In addition, the approach of presidential elections in April and May – in which both hard right and hard left are expected to perform strongly – is exacerbating the mood of confrontation.
The government is hoping that the approach of half-term holidays at the end of next week – as well as the arrival of colder and wetter weather – will take some of the sting out of the protests.
