TENS of thousands of lycée pupils joined demonstrations across France yesterday to demand the right to sit end-of-school examinations.

The lycéens were protesting against a French government plan to modernise the two- century-old Baccalauréat by scrapping about half the written papers and replacing them with continuous assessment.

They say that the reform, introduced by François Fillon, the Education Minister, would undermine the egalitarian nature of the national certificate that determines access to universities in France.

In the biggest in a series of simultaneous protests in the main cities, thousands of demonstrators blocked the centre of Paris. One group marched past the Palais de Justice in the French capital calling for M Fillon’s resignation and holding up a banner which said Sauvons Notre Education (Save Our Education). Middle-aged passers-by, many of whom took part in the May 1968 student riots, clapped their hands in encouragement, although some pointed to the irony of the situation.

Here were teenagers defending tradition against a centre-right Government that they accuse of ill-prepared innovation.

Ministers are concerned. The row has become the focal point for widespread discontent over education policy, prompting fears that it could “pollute” the referendum on the European Union constitution this year. With teachers already grumbling over what they say are cuts in secondary schools, supporters of President Chirac are concerned that the movement could spiral out of control and lead to a bout of social unrest.

Luc Ferry, a former Education Minister, said: “Lycéens are like toothpaste. Once they are out of the tube, you can’t put them back in.”

Last night, the Minister said that he would delay implementation of the reform for two months while he consulted education specialists and teachers’ unions.

Many MPs on the government benches are angry with M Fillon for igniting demonstrations over what they say is a minor, technical reform.

However, the Minister says reform is necessary to save the examination from bureaucratic collapse. Originally intended for the elite, it is now taken by 63 per cent of school leavers.

Several measures in the Education Bill that he will present next week have been criticised, notably a change to the national curriculum that detractors say will squeeze economics and social sciences out of lycées.

Times recommends

• Graduates move home to cut costs
• Screen tests are the future of exams
• Briefing: University funding