Anti-elitist protest shuts top French university

One of France's most prestigious universities was forced to shut today after student protesters staged a campus occupation against government plans to make higher education more competitive.

The Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris is the latest of numerous universities across France to face sit-ins against President Emmanuel Macron's shake-up of the education system.

At present, anyone who graduates from high school is guaranteed a place at a public university, but Macron's government wants to introduce more selective criteria to tackle overcrowding and high dropout rates.

Protesters say the plan is an attack on France's egalitarian tradition of offering a public higher education to all.

But Prime Minister Edouard Philippe expressed amusement at the idea of students at the "Normale Sup'" -- part of a separate tier of highly selective top universities known as "grandes ecoles" -- joining the movement.

"It's quite charming, given the extremely selective nature of the Ecole Normale Superieure," he said.

"But that's how it is, and I'm following it with great interest."