French student protests spur IGPN probes amid UN concern over police tactics

Twenty-four investigations have been opened by French police watchdog IGPN into incidents linked to the ongoing high school protest movement, the interior ministry said. The police response has reignited calls to scrap rubber bullets and launcher-fired riot-control weapons, long denounced by rights groups and UN experts as dangerous and excessive. 

France student protests over crumbling schools expose deep tensions as Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise allegedly exploits the growing unrest.

Students say they are desperate to get back to class but conditions are so bad that the protests must continueOn a normal school day, Mohammed, 17, wakes at 6am, cares for his younger siblings to help his single mother who works as a security guard, then takes two crowded buses and a local train to get to his high school in Sevran, a low-income banlieue town in the suburbs north-east of Paris.“There aren’t enough chairs or desks to go round, so some students have to stand up,” Mohammed said. “Classes can be so packed you can’t interact with the teacher. In this year’s heatwaves, it felt like 40 degrees in overcrowded classrooms with no shade or curtains. It was so hot my brain couldn’t function.” Continue reading...

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornudescribed the demonstrations as the most violent in decades.

After days of street blockades and tense stand-offs with riot police, most students in France returned to their classrooms today as the United Nations said it was monitoring the unrest “with concern” amid reports of violence. Tens of thousands of people have marched across the country since late September, when students began blocking entrances to […]

French PM Sébastien Lecornu pledged to respond by late October but stopped short of meeting student demands, as protesters took to the streets Thursday for nationwide demonstrations dubbed “Act IV.”

Saint-Denis's mayor, Bally Bagayoko, had to be evacuated from a protest in Paris after he was teargassed by police on Tuesday. He was marching with high-school students when they were confronted by a police cordon in the French capital. Speaking to the Guardian, he said the 'small minority' of people using protests as an opportunity to create trouble did not 'justify the disproportionate use of force by the authorities'. Students across France have been protesting about the lack of funding and resources in public establishments for more than a week. More than 5,000 people have been arrested, a large majority of them underaged.French police suspend use of stun grenades at school protests as minister rejects accusations of brutalityThe Guardian view on the French school protests: the political class needs to heed the voice of students Continue reading...

French student unions ​vowed on Friday to keep up the fight even as the government registered a "marked slowdown" in a protest movement that has rattled the country for over a week. The UN human rights agency called for de-escalation, voicing concern over violent clashes with police that have caused severe injuries among teenage protesters.

A movement born in the Paris banlieues has mobilized young people against diminished school conditions and accumulating problems at home and beyond.

Students in France were largely back in the classroom on Friday following days of protests demanding better education, with the UN voicing “concern” over the sometimes violent clashes with police.

141 of France's 3,700 high schools were closed on Friday, according to the Education Ministry.

In response to the massive high school student protests in France, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced emergency measures on Thursday, October 8. Some students reacted to these measures in interviews with France 24. 

Fixing the broken education system will be just the start. The biggest challenge for an aloof political class is to finally pay attention to an abandoned generationWhen adolescents protest that the government is failing to uphold their right to an education, and the government’s response is to send in riot police, the government has lost the plot. People outside France may have spent the past week watching the student protests in Paris and other cities, and thought, “Well, France has a long tradition of insurrection” or, “That’s just the French being French.”But the situation that has provoked the high-school walkouts and teenage anger is most likely not one they would immediately associate with the France of their imaginations. In place of its lost plot, the French government has a collection of anecdotes and statistics that it should be ashamed of: 27th place in the most recent OECD education rankings, schools with ceilings collapsing and rats in classrooms and, in a school in Bagnolet, no drinkable water; an increase in the average number of students per class from 27 in 2010 to over 30 today; half of primary and high schools missing teachers at the start of the school year – many of them with no substitutes or replacements. Continue reading...

The students have complained of absent teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures

'No one listens to us': France's mass student protests expose social and racial inequality Submitted by Pauline Ertel on Thu, 10/08/2026 - 01:02 Students from disadvantaged suburbs demand better conditions and equal opportunities in a system that has neglected their communities Protesters during a blockade of Sciences Po university in Paris as part of nationwide protests demanding better school conditions in France, 7 October 2026 (Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters) Off As France's student protests stretch into a third week, testimonies from young people show how unequal and often degrading school conditions fall hardest on ethnic minorities and working‑class suburbs. Police violence has intensified and schools have been disrupted nationwide, pushing students from the banlieues – France’s working‑class, often ethnically diverse suburbs – to demand better conditions and an end to the structural inequalities they say marginalise their communities. The protests began in mid-September following a staff and students strike over teacher shortages and deteriorating conditions at the Lycee Saint-Exupery in Creteil, in the southeastern suburb of Paris.  When videos of the strike circulated online, other high schools joined in, blocking entrances and staging demonstrations. Within 10 days, the movement had spread nationwide. According to figures from the interior ministry, by 6 October around 250,000 people - including school and university students, parents, teachers and unionists - had taken to the streets to demand higher public investment in education and improved conditions, particularly in low‑income neighbourhoods. Their demands range from renovated facilities and increased staffing to smaller class sizes, a fairer college application system and an alternative to the current “8h-18h” school day. The French state has reacted with what rights groups, including Amnesty International, have condemned as an "unnecessary and disproportionate" use of force, urging authorities to de-escalate. Footage circulating online shows police and national guard units deploying tear gas, firing rubber bullets and beating protesters with batons. Hundreds have been injured, some very seriously. In Val‑d’Oise, a 14‑year‑old lost several teeth after a tear‑gas canister was fired at his face at point‑blank range. In Lens, a 15-year old student lost his hand in a confrontation with police. Following the incident, the interior minister announced a temporary halt on stun grenades at school demonstrations, while rejecting accusations of police brutality. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 protestors have been arrested - 85 percent of them minors, according to the ministry. Dilapidated schools The wave of high‑school blockades across the country has exposed a deep crisis in the education system. Material conditions are a central grievance. In many high schools, particularly in low‑income areas, buildings are in severe disrepair. Students speak of leaks, damaged ceilings, rats, broken toilets, insufficient furniture, and classrooms which overheat during recent heatwaves. 'It's either freezing in the winter or unbearably hot in the summer. The power cuts out, so the classrooms go dark, the computers stop working, the lights stop working' - Madeleine, high school student Class sizes are often overcrowded, reaching more than 36 students in urban areas, and school days are notoriously long. On top of this, around 10 percent of teaching hours go undelivered, with teacher absences hitting poorer areas hardest. "We have asbestos in the walls, classrooms where there aren’t enough chairs or desks. There are 35 of us in a classroom. We go to school from 8am to 6pm and then we have to do homework, it's impossible," a student from the Lycee Alfred Kastler in Pontoise, 30km northwest of Paris, told Middle East Eye.  Other students criticised the lack of ventilation or air conditioning systems at school to battle surging heatwaves as well as repeated power failures. "We have major problems with insulation. It's either freezing in the winter or unbearably hot in the summer," Madeleine, a student at the Lycee Francois Villon in Les Mureaux, 40km northweast of Paris, told MEE.  "The power cuts out, so the classrooms go dark, the computers stop working, the lights stop working. Nothing works anymore."  Ousmane, 17, from the Lycee Emily Bronte in Lognes, an eastern suburb of Paris, said some classrooms don’t even have chairs. "Sometimes we have to stand during lessons," he told MEE. Other students mentioned the state of sanitary facilities in schools, saying that bathrooms are not cleaned, and reporting a lack of toilet paper and soap.  In response to the protests, the government has acknowledged the "legitimate" nature of the grievances and pledged to address class sizes, daily schedules, teacher replacement mechanisms and building conditions. According to a Senate report, billions of euros will be needed in the coming years to renovate thousands of ageing schools.   Banlieues suffer disproportionately  While underfunding affects schools across France, those in deprived neighbourhoods with large immigrant populations are hit hardest. Unlike cities such as London, where different social and income groups as well has housing tenures are integrated within a single neighbourhood, Paris exposes a stark geographical divide, where wealth is heavily concentrated in the west and adjacent suburbs, while lower-income populations mainly live in peripheral northern and eastern banlieues.  Criminalising protest: Pro-Palestine students in France face increased repression Read More » This contrast shapes students' experiences. According to the OECD, social background remains one of the strongest predictors of academic success, with disadvantaged pupils concentrated in under‑resourced schools where teacher absenteeism is higher and learning conditions poorer. Jelan Kone, a student from the Lycee Paul Eluard, one of the first high schools to have joined the protest movement, in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis, told MEE that racialised prejudices towards disadvantaged cities and their populations perpetuate institutional neglect. "They assume that because we’re from the banlieues, we’re supposed to be uneducated, that we don’t learn anything, that the suburbs are worthless," she told MEE. "But we don’t just let people walk all over us. We try to improve our communities and show that the banlieues aren’t something that should be neglected," she added. Mohamed, 17, who attends the selective Lycee International de L’Est Parisien in Noisy‑le‑Grand - one of the most disadvantaged cities in the Paris region, where 18.7 percent of residents live below the poverty threshold - stressed the importance of students from better‑resourced schools joining the movement. "It’s sad that others don’t have the opportunity to improve their social situation. It’s very important for us, in this area, to support neighbouring high‑school students out of solidarity," he told MEE at a mass protest in Paris’s Place de la Republique on Tuesday. 'They assume that because we’re from the banlieues, we’re supposed to be uneducated, that the banlieues are worthless' - High school student  Discrimination is also visible in the way police treat protesters, according to witness testimonies and extensive documentation of racial bias within French police forces. A 2025 study by the independent administrative authority Défenseur des droits (Rights Defender) found that young men perceived as Black, Arab or North African face a risk of identity checks four times higher than other population groups. Nellie, a high school student from the Lycee Alfred Kastler in the northwestern suburb of Cergy, told MEE police disproportionately target Black and Arab youth. "During one of the school blockades, I heard one student say to a policeman: 'I don't speak to cops'. The police man replied: 'We don't speak to Black people'," she said. Nellie's classmate Maelie told MEE that the police would "show up at their school, hit and tear-gas innocent people".  'No one listens to us'  Another source of frustration among students is Parcoursup, France’s national higher‑education application platform. Students have raised concern over algorithmic biases in the system, saying that applicants from schools in more affluent neighbourhoods get prioritised, perpetuating already existing social and racial inequality.  France: When racism peaks - and the mountains are claimed as white‑only spaces Read More » "We’re at a high school in the Paris banlieue. Because of that, we’re not viewed as favourably and it means that we don’t necessarily have the same opportunities as students from rich schools, even though we have the same level, and sometimes an even higher level than them," Imene, a high-school student in Saint-Denis, told MEE.  "Parcoursup is a source of stress for all students in France. It’s unbearable. There are people who have an average grade of 18 out of 20 but were rejected by top universities, or from programmes like medicine, simply because other students were given priority," she added.  Earlier this year, a Defenseur des droits report on discrimination based on origin among young people highlighted persistent inequalities in access to higher education and raised concerns about selection procedures, including Parcoursup. It called for stronger measures to ensure equal treatment and issued recommendations for Parcoursup to publish clear, verifiable and understandable selection criteria, strengthen ministerial oversight of admissions algorithms, and prohibit the use of applicants’ previous high schools as a selection criterion. Yet despite these calls for reform, many students say they still feel overlooked. Melissa, another high school student in Saint-Denis, told MEE that she feels that students, especially from the banlieues, are ignored by the government.   "Everyone is equal in this country, we want to have the same rights as everyone else. That’s what they don’t want to understand. They just want us to stay quiet and put up with it," she said. 'We're not viewed as favorably and it means that we don't necessarily have the same opportunities as students from rich schools' - Imene, high school student Although many teachers support the protests, Imene, Melissa and Zara expressed concern over the socioeconomic gap between staff and pupils in Saint-Denis, which prevents them from relating to the students' grievances.  "Most of our teachers studied at really prestigious universities. So for them, it’s not really the same experience. They don't come from the Paris banlieues, and they’re not racialised people," Imene told MEE. The protest movement, they said, will continue until the "students will be heard", arguing that students and staff have raised these issues for years without meaningful change. "Every single year, there’s another issue. But nothing changes," Zara said, deploring that despite the recurrent protests over the years, "no one listens to us". While speaking to MEE, Zara, Imene and Melissa were preparing for another blockade of their school on the following day, painting slogans on cardboards. More and more students joined them. Despite the violence and uncertainty, they expressed determination - and hope. "If we don’t act now, it’s never, ever, ever going to change. But this time, if we keep going, things will change, I have hope," Imene said.  France Paris News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Rioting high schoolers pile pressure on Emmanuel Macron’s government

French student unions vowed ​on Friday to keep up protests after scoring their first win in a campaign that is increasingly supported by Paris's elite universities, with 141 schools still shut around the country, according to the education ministry. Student and ‌teacher unions have called for another round of nationwide school strikes next Tuesday. FRANCE 24's Shirli Sitbon reports.

French student protests: A generation that sees no future is rising up Submitted by Alain Gabon on Thu, 10/08/2026 - 16:20 Trump has wrongly tried to blame the student-led movement on migrants and Islam. In reality, it is propelled by the gradual disappearance of any prospect of a stable future A placard reads "The youth shouts, the state brings out its weapons" during a student protest in eastern France, on 8 October 2026 (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP) Off Since late September, France has lived to the tempo of massive high school student protests and blockades, culminating this week in a nationwide demonstration that brought out hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Originating in a low-income suburb of Paris, the movement spread like wildfire across France, quickly expanding to encompass university students and union activists.  While the movement is mostly made up of teenagers who have overwhelmingly remained peaceful, state authorities have responded with disproportionate force.  Rather than insisting on moderation, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez called for police to use the full range of intermediate weapons, such as tear gas and rubber bullets, as necessary on protesters. More than 6,000 people, mostly minors, have been arrested in the crackdown. Predictably, since day one, the mainstream media has worked hand-in-hand with the Macron government to discredit the movement, showing almost exclusively the more sensationalist, scary and spectacular images from the protests.  The coverage aims to create the false impression that “France is burning”, presenting the protests as “violent riots”, rather than as a largely peaceful student movement with legitimate and reasonable demands.  Deliberately ignored in such coverage is the fact that the vast majority of the countless protests, blockades, marches and actions in recent days, including the massive nationwide demonstration this week, remained non-violent.  Media coverage has also portrayed the students as being manipulated or instrumentalised by the France Unbowed party and its leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is running in next year’s presidential election. They have presented no evidence for this claim, beyond the party’s support for the youth movement. Enter Trump Beating the French media and politicians - from the centre left to the far right - at their own Islamophobic and racist games, US President Donald Trump recently weighed in by publicly blaming the protests on uncontrolled mass migration and Islam.  Such outlandish accusations hardly deserve a response, and in France, they have essentially been ignored as the ravings of a despicable lunatic. Students complain about severe underfunding of the public education system, even as the state spends billions of dollars in subsidies on private, usually Catholic schools  There are, however, two other explanations. Trump and others in his entourage might genuinely believe in the Great Replacement fantasy that “European civilisation” is being eclipsed by Muslims and Arabs, who want to build some sort of “Islamist caliphate”. Alternatively, he might simply be playing to his largely xenophobic Maga base, ahead of November midterms that his party is poised to lose.  But Trump’s grotesque posturing as a defender of “western civilisation” against invading hordes from the Global South does not seem to have swayed many people, even in the US, likely because few American voters have much interest in the politics of France.  The reasons for the protests are much simpler than Trump suggests. They have been abundantly, even relentlessly, explained by the students themselves, as well as by some good, honest reporting and expert commentary. Despite vast disparities across the nation, the primary grievances of students include the often appalling physical conditions of their crumbling schools; severe and systematic shortages of teachers and support staff; and overcrowded classrooms, where the numbers of students sometimes exceed available chairs. In general, students complain about severe underfunding and governmental neglect of the public education system, even as the state spends billions of dollars in subsidies on private, usually Catholic schools - a cruel irony for a supposedly secular state whose elected officials constantly brag about the strictness of French laicite. Restless generation Another reason cited by student protesters is the strong and mounting anxiety they feel about their prospects for the future. This deep-seated fear crystallises around a state-run web portal called “Parcoursup”, which launched in 2018 with a goal of sorting out university applications. Widely viewed as a failure, the automated selection system pits students against other students for their choice of universities and specialisations, in a process that has been criticised as opaque and discriminatory. France riots: Why the streets are burning again Read More » While France legally guarantees postsecondary access for students who have completed high school, 320,000 students were left without a place last year by the Parcoursup platform. In a nation of just 2.26 million high school students, many of whom will not even apply for higher education, the ratio is worrying. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. History shows that behind concrete, practical and material demands, and beyond massive and spectacular popular demonstrations, larger problems often loom.  What we are hearing in France is an expression of generalised anxiety over the future, both individually and globally, and a rejection of the state of affairs at home after a decade of disastrous Macronism, which has broken the country and greatly aggravated inequalities, deepening the divide between rich and poor, and thrusting most of the population into ever-worsening precarity.  Researchers have suggested that young people in Generation Z will be worse off than their parents, facing a more difficult path to adulthood than any generation in half a century. Such is the future many of these student protesters see in front of them.  Add to this their emerging awareness that AI is killing and replacing many of the jobs that were supposed to be theirs, and there is no need to see the hands of shadowy “Islamists” behind this historic movement. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. Education Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

French teenagers blockaded several high schools and took to the streets in cities across the country on Thursday in the latest wave of protests over conditions in schools. With demonstrations showing no sign of slowing down, around half of the French population reportedly supports the movement.

PARIS — French student unions vowed on Friday to keep up protests after scoring their first win in a campaign that is increasingly supported by Paris's elite universities, with 141 schools still shut around the country, according to the education ministry. The protests, now in their third week, have snowballed into a wider movement, with some university students weighing in to express their anger over what they call a dysfunctional system, worsened by spending cuts spurred by France's budget crunch. The unrest poses a challenge for the government, which must balance demands for more education spending with the need to rein in public debt, and risks rekindling the kind of street protests that have historically forced French leaders to retreat on austerity measures. Student and teacher unions have called for another round of nationwide school strikes next Tuesday. Police cleared a blockade at Assas university, France's top law school, in central Paris on Friday morning, BFM TV showed. Nearby, elite engineering school Mines Paris was also disrupted by blockades. The Institut Catholique, a

French student unions vowed on Friday to keep up protests after scoring their first win in a campaign that is increasingly supported by Paris’s elite universities, with 141 schools still shut around the country, according to the education ministry. The protests, now in their third week, have snowballed into a wider movement, with some university […]

French high school students, who intensified their protests this week against understaffed institutions and overcrowding, are planning yet another day of demonstrations on Tuesday despite government measures to address some of their concerns.

Students in France were largely back in the classroom today following days of protests demanding better education and school conditions, as the UN voiced "concern" over the clashes

France's ministry of education said that 141 high schools remain closed Friday as national student protests continue despite a pledge from the education minister on Thursday to deploy 3,000 extra substitute teachers. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

France's government has promised 3,000 replacement teachers for struggling secondary schools and pledged to give pupils a greater say in education policy in a bid to quell nearly three weeks of student protests. But blockades in some schools resumed on Friday morning and student bodies have called for a further day of action next week. 

In France, some public schools have been closed since Monday and won't reopen until next week amid nationwide student and labor protests that have been raging for three weeks. Aiden Stretch reports from Paris.

Police charged demonstrators with clubs and fired tear gas as protesters resisted a crackdown, vowing to keep fighting for what they say are France’s broken schools. NBC News’ Richard Engel reports.

Students have blocked hundreds of high schools for over a week, protesting teacher shortages, overcrowded timetables and deteriorating facilities.

Over 150 schools across France closed on Thursday as nationwide student-led protests over school conditions grew even more contentious. CBS News international reporter Aidan Stretch has the latest from Paris.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons as demonstrators gathered in Paris to demand more funding and teachers.

Students on Thursday barricaded a Parisian high school with garbage bins before police shot tear gas at them as France’s nationwide protests showed little sign of ending. At least a dozen demonstrations supporting the high school students’ movement were planned across the country while 375 schools were fully or partially closed.

Over 70,000 people took part in demonstrations across France on Thursday demanding better education and less police brutality, as students protested nationwide despite government attempts to ease a crisis that has rocked the country for more than a week. Students have blocked entrances to hundreds of high schools, with squads of riot police deployed -- occasionally resulting in violent clashes. The interior ministry said 71,500 participated in protests across the country, with police detaining more than 500 people. FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin reports from central Paris.

Students barricaded a high school in northeastern Paris with rubbish bins before police moved in with tear gas, as France's nationwide protests showed few signs of ending with hundreds of schools disrupted

Mass protests over decrepit schools and absent teachers are in their third week, with more planned. Officials have failed so far to quell a movement drawing many adult supporters.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page Riot police clashed with protesters as they took over the Bastille Square in Paris. Officers charged the thousands of schoolchildren with batons and unleashed water cannons as they moved in to try and clear out the square. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a candidate for La France insoumise for the 2027 Presidential election said: ‘The Bastille has been retaken. ‘Powerful demonstration by the youth who carry their demands in the most beautiful way possible. Immense pride. See you on Tuesday, October 13, at the call of the youth unions and workers.’ Students scuffle with riot police during a protest against under-resourced schools in Paris. (Picture: AP Photo/Teresa Suarez) The Storming of the Bastille took place on 14 July 1789 in Paris and is one of the key events of the French Revolution. Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. The Bastille was a medieval fortress and prison that had become a symbol of the absolute power of King Louis XVI. Anouk said violent protest is a ‘small percentage’ of what’s happening in France (Picture: Reuters) One schoolboy warned that it was ‘normal’ if violent outbursts occurred, if students’ demands were ‘not be heard’. ‘All the revolutions in history have served a purpose, he told EuroNews. ‘In 1789, there were a lot of deaths. We don’t want to have deaths, but we could revert to violence as a means of expression. The goal is not to perpetrate violence to hurt people, but it’s to use violence to change the system that harms us’. Anouk Vandecasteele, an English teacher at a school in Lille, is one of the many educators to have joined the growing student protests. ‘There is definitely a form of police brutality which has been previously unseen because it has not been directed towards young people before,’ she told Metro. ‘The fact that today they are injuring kids is unacceptable. That’s one of the reasons why we are there.’  Earlier this week, at a 250-strong protest in nearby Lens, a 15-year-old reportedly had his hand ‘blown off’ when a stun grenade thrown by riot police detonated after he picked it up. Anouk has also heard reports of students losing eyes and of a 14-year-old who lost teeth after their jaw was broken. She said: ‘Of course during the gilets jaunes and other strikes many activists have been wounded, but injuring kids is unheard of. It’s a bit scary. ‘People who are currently demonstrating and people who are blocking the schools are just kids. They are unarmed; they just want to be heard. It is time for the government to listen to them.’ She told Metro: ‘I’m ready for anything to make sure that my students have the same opportunities that I had. I feel outraged and at the same time I feel like I’m never going to give up and I think that’s how the students feel too. Above all I feel proud.’  Underfunding poses a serious threat to social mobility in France; a child born and schooled in a deprived neighbourhood there has less chance of escaping their socioeconomic background than in most other developed nations, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.  Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source

Students in northeastern Paris gathered Thursday to protest outside a high school, with police responding using tear gas

Teachers’ unions also called for a strike, while the French prime minister promised to address students’ concerns by the end of October.

France school protests escalate as police fire tear gas in Paris and Marseille. Over 266,000 rallied Oct 6, 18 brutality probes opened. Learn key facts, police tactics and what happens next.

Student-led protests over France’s struggling education system descended into chaos in Paris as fires broke out and chemical irritants were deployed. Student groups claimed 100,000 people protested in the capital, while the Interior Ministry put the nationwide turnout at around 266,000.

Students have blocked entrances to hundreds of high schools across the country, with squads of riot police deployed to control the situation — occasionally resulting in violent clashes

MARSEILLE/PARIS — French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday as the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave few specific details. The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped government under pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt and deficit. Large crowds demonstrated in Paris and across the country from Lille in the north to Rennes and Nantes in the west, and Toulon and Marseille in the south. The marches were peaceful, though scuffles between police and protesters took place at some locations in Paris and Nantes and police charged at a crowd and used water cannon in Rennes. In Paris' iconic Bastille square, where a large crowd had gathered, police charged protesters and used water cannon as dusk fell. High-school teacher Diane Di Sciullo joined students at a large march in Marseille, saying all they were asking for was a decent educati

Police fired tear gas and used batons against protesters in Paris again as students continue to voice their grievances about school conditions across France.

Students in France are pledging to keep taking to the streets despite the country's prime minister making a speech on Wednesday in which he said the government would come up with a plan to address their concerns. How have political parties in France been reacting to the movement? Delano D'Souza has been finding out.

Students who have been protesting classroom conditions in France for days are "not looking like they are willing to back down", says France 24 reporter Claire Paccalin, despite promises by the French prime minister to bring in measures to address their grievances.

Schools blockaded again across country as teenagers and teachers demand more investment and ‘concrete measures’ to improve conditionsEurope live – latest updatesHigh school students have again blockaded schools and marched through cities across France, promising to continue their campaign despite government pledges to address the grievances underlying 10 days of protests that have left hundreds injured.Large crowds took to the streets on Thursday for mainly peaceful demonstrations in cities including Lille, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon, Toulon and Marseille, while in Paris a procession marched through the city centre to arrive at the Place de la Bastille. Continue reading...

Anger about classroom overcrowding, teacher shortages and broken-down buildings has boiled over in recent weeks, and threatens to coalesce into broader grievances in a heated political season.

Students clash with police outside French schools as blockades, tear gas and fires mark a new nationwide mobilisation ahead of the 2027 election.

France is in the international spotlight as massive student protests show no sign of stopping. Demonstrating is something of a rite of passage for young people in France, a moment when teenagers discover politics and their collective voice. How has this "protest culture" manifested itself in recent French history? And why are some student protests effective at bringing about change and others not? We take a closer look in French Connections.

French PM Sebastien Lecornu has promised to address student concerns as protests force hundreds of schools to close.

#France: high school students continue to protest Thursday in the face of what they say is the government’s failure to respond to their demands.  Follow the fourth day of protests on FRANCE 24 

French pupils are angry and the country is tense

Just over 150 high schools were closed, and France’s education minister invited three major student groups to meet with him on Thursday afternoon.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a televised address Wednesday evening that the country could not be "indifferent" to the concerns of protesting high school students, acknowledging that the "anger of young people does not come from nowhere". He denied that security forces have "orders to confront" the young people, and promised the government would present a plan to respond to the crisis at the end of October. But what measures could the French government introduce and will it be enough to calm the protests? France 24’s Rochelle Ferguson Bouyahi takes a look.

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday after the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings. Reporting from Paris, France 24's Jamie Smith-Maillet says protesters he has spoken to see the government measures as lacking detail and have vowed to continue demonstrations until concrete action is taken.

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday as the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave few specific details. The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped government under pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt and deficit. High-school teacher Diane Di Sciullo joined students at a large march in Marseille, saying all they were asking for was a decent education in decent conditions. She denounced overcrowding, saying this year she had 37 students in her class. Protesters face French CRS riot police outside Lycee Helene-Boucher high school as students block the road, during nationwide protests in Paris, France, October 8, 2026, to demand better school conditions. —Reuters “At the start of every lesson, I have to ask them to check the neighbouring classrooms for spare chairs and desks so they can actually study,” she said. Di Sciullo, 28, was carrying a placard that read “I’m a teacher and my students help me catch cockroaches in class.” Protesters march during a demonstration by French high school students in Marseille, as part of a nationwide day of protests and blockades, expressing anger over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings, which students blame on years of underinvestment, in Marseille, France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters Minister promises urgent action Education ministry figures showed the number of school blockades was gradually decreasing. It said 224 were closed in the morning, down to 157 by lunchtime, meaning that 96 per cent of schools were open. Scuffles between police and protesters took place at some blockade locations in Paris. Large crowds demonstrated across the country from Lille in the north to Rennes and Nantes in the west, the capital Paris, and Toulon and Marseille in the south. Police officers stand guard as French high school students block the road outside Lycee Helene-Boucher high school, as part of nationwide protests to demand better school conditions in Paris, France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters Education Minister Edouard Geffray held a meeting with students and teachers at a high school in the eastern city of Reims. “I am currently implementing an emergency plan to ensure that absent teachers can be replaced on a long-term basis,” he said afterwards, adding that heavy school timetables were also under review. It is not uncommon for French teenagers to have lessons from 8am to 6pm, as well as large amounts of homework. French high school and university students attend a demonstration in Nantes as part of a nationwide day of protests and blockades to demand better school conditions in France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters Hundreds of arrests Geffray also said he was working on potential improvements to Parcoursup, the national online portal for applying to university, which has been widely criticised as confusing and stressful for applicants. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pledged late on Wednesday that the government would present “concrete, quick and fully funded responses” to the protests by late October, without offering specifics. French students gather outside the Lycee Henri-IV in Paris as part of nationwide protests to demand better school conditions in France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters A prominent complaint featured on banners and placards was that the police response to the wave of protests has been too heavy-handed. “Too young to be listened to, old enough to be tear-gassed” was one example. There have been hundreds of arrests and dozens of injuries since the movement started. On Wednesday, the government suspended the use of stun grenades in the policing of the protests after one teenager’s hand was blown off. Polarised political response as election looms Six months out from an election to replace President Emmanuel Macron after the end of his second consecutive term, politicians’ responses to the wave of student protests have been starkly polarised. Far-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen has highlighted damage to schools caused by a minority of protesters and called for them or their parents to foot repair bills. On Tuesday, she outlined plans to slash public spending should she win. rotesters clash with French gendarmes, as French high school and university students attend a demonstration in Nantes as part of a nationwide day of protests and blockades to demand better school conditions in France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters Her hard-left opponent Jean-Luc Melenchon, who also has a chance of making the runoff, has praised the protesters as “incredible” and denounced police brutality. According to an Elabe poll for BFM TV, 72pc of French people think the students’ demands are legitimate, but 55pc of them think the protests should stop. The government has sought to tread a line between condemning violent incidents in which schools were set ablaze and staff injured, while also expressing sympathy with some of the students’ complaints. Students protest in Belgium too On Thursday, student protests were also taking place in the Belgian cities of Brussels, Ciney and Liege. Grievances included rising costs, overcrowded classrooms, limited resources and increased teacher workloads. In Liege, where police said almost 200 arrests had been made in connection with student protests this month, authorities have imposed a ban on public gatherings of more than three people until October 16. However, police said a gathering in front of the city’s university had been authorised.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised plan to respond to crisis by end of October but many students remain unconvinced by words.

Hundreds of thousands of French high school students have taken to the streets to protest against dilapidated buildings and teacher shortages.

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday as the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave few specific details. The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services […]

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu addressed the nation on Wednesday evening in an effort to ease the crisis, promising the government would share a plan to respond to the situation by the end of October.

Beyond physical wounds, the massive use of police arrests and tactics that government critics and human rights campaigners allege have been unnecessarily violent is giving a generation of French schoolchildren - and soon-to-be voters - a real-life education about state power and their rights as citizens, and how the two sometimes clash.

Students and activists were rallying across France on Thursday, in a test of the longevity of a nationwide student protest movement.

Dozens of people have been injured in the protests, including students, teachers, and police officers.

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday after the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave no specific details. The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped ‌government under pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt and deficit. It has also led to...

It has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped government

Police have arrested thousands of young people in France during protests demanding better school funding.

Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September, when students, most of them under 18, started protesting to demand more education funding, according to the Interior Ministry.

PARIS — The police tear gas grenade shattered the 14-year-old’s jaw and many of his teeth.

France school protests flare as tear gas is used outside a Paris lycee

Students in northeastern Paris gathered Thursday to protest outside a high school, with police responding using tear gas

High school students across France launched a fresh day of protests on Thursday, despite government attempts to ease the crisis which has rocked the country for days. But coinciding with a cost of living crisis and apprehensions around upcoming presidential elections, are the protests part of a wider French malaise? France 24’s Douglas Herbert takes a look.

Students in northeastern Paris gathered Thursday to protest outside a high school, with police responding using tear gas

France is bracing for another day of high school protests after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said his policy response would only come at the end of the month.

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and prepared to rally again on Thursday after the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave no specific details. The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public […]

Students are taking to the streets over underfunding in education as the government seeks to find budget cuts to appease bond markets.

High school students across France were preparing for a fresh day of protests on Thursday, despite government efforts to ease the crisis which has rocked the country for days. Students have blocked entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures. Student union leaders were urging fresh mobilisation Thursday morning outside high school campuses across France, and in the capital Paris. Protesters face French CRS riot police outside Lycee Helene-Boucher high school as students block the road, during nationwide protests in Paris, France, October 8, 2026, to demand better school conditions. —Reuters National education unions have also called for a general strike Thursday in support of the students. In a televised address on Wednesday evening, the prime minister attempted to calm some of the tensions, promising a plan to respond to the crisis by the end of October. Sebastien Lecornu said that the country could not be “indifferent” to the concerns of high school students, acknowledging that the “anger of young people does not come from nowhere”. He denied that security forces have “orders to confront” the young people, after allegations of excessive police violence. But the students urged the movement to continue. “We want real action, and until we get it, we’ll keep mobilising,” a high school student named Marilou in Fontainebleau told AFP. Suzanne Nijdam, president of student association Fage, said they did not have “even the crumbs of an agreement” after a meeting with the higher education minister Philippe Baptiste. Police officers stand guard as French high school students block the road outside Lycee Helene-Boucher high school, as part of nationwide protests to demand better school conditions in Paris, France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters She called for protests to continue Thursday with “larger-scale demonstrations next week”. The students have asked for a direct meeting with Lecornu to present what they have said are costed proposals to address their demands. Hundreds of students, police and teaching staff have been injured since the protests began, and more than 6,500 people — mostly minors — have been arrested. While many rallies have been peaceful, some demonstrators have started fires, destroyed bus shelters or clashed with riot police. A 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday after police fired a stun grenade, and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told radio broadcaster RTL early Wednesday that he had suspended the police use of stun grenades in response. Police officers stand guard as French high school students block the road outside Lycee Helene-Boucher high school, as part of nationwide protests to demand better school conditions in Paris, France, October 8, 2026. —Reuters Unions, rights groups and the children have accused the authorities of using disproportionate force, and police have opened 18 internal investigations into allegations of misconduct. The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, with far-right veteran candidate Marine Le Pen riding high in the polls despite a graft conviction.

Demonstrators have rejected a promise by Sébastien Lecornu to present a plan to fix the country’s education system by the end of the monthHigh school protests across France show no sign of slowing down, with nearly 400 educational establishments facing disruptions this morning.Demonstrators have rejected a promise by prime minister Sébastien Lecornu to present a plan to fix the country’s education system by the end of the month, demanding he fully engages with their demands sooner than that. Continue reading...

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has insisted that security forces have not been ordered to “confront” protesting high school students, as mounting allegations of police brutality add to tensions surrounding a nationwide movement over conditions in schools.

Police have arrested thousands of young people in France during protests demanding better school funding

French activists were set to rally across France on Thursday, in a test of the longevity of a nationwide student protest movement.

French high school and university students were called out to protest again on Thursday, two days after a large turnout demanding more funding, as the government made a series of conciliatory gestures aimed at ending the crisis. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments. 

Protests are continuing in France, a day after more than 250,000 people took to the streets across the country to demand education reforms. Demonstrations began in mid-September, fueled by frustrations over classroom sizes and poor building conditions. Special correspondent William Denselow reports from Paris.

Allegations of police brutality are mounting following days of protests by high school students that have shaken the country.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said police were not ordered to confront students and promised a plan to address their concerns by the end of October.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has tried to calm both student protesters and jittery bond markets. In an address to the nation, Lecornu stressed that the education ministry had not seen any cuts in last week's budget proposal, but insisted the government must cut its public deficit to 5%. There are growing concerns about France's spending and debt, with the IMF urging the country to "get your house in order." Lecornu also confirmed the release of 10 million barrels of diesel fuel. 

France's prime minister, in a TV address to the nation on Wednesday evening, said that the anger of French students who have been holding mass protests 'does not come from nowhere', and promised action on key points by the end of October.

France's student protests took a breather on Wednesday after weeks of unrest, but market pressure on the French government intensified ahead of budget talks.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will address the nation on Wednesday evening as part of his government's drive to end the wave of student blockades, which have closed high schools throughout the country. 

More than 250,000 pupils, teachers and parents demonstrated across France on Tuesday, according to the Interior Ministry, as police used teargas during clashes and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured since the protests began more than two weeks ago. The Interior Ministry said 200,000 people joined mostly peaceful marches in cities including Marseille, Nantes and Lyon, while another 56,000 demonstrated in Paris. Organizers estimated the nationwide turnout at 450,000. ...

A pre-election debt selloff, lame-duck government, and massive demonstrations have raised fears that Paris’ budgetary crisis is untameable.

The fury in France reached a new peak when at least 250,000 people joined rallies that confronted police and spread flames on the streets.

The fury in France reached a new peak when at least 250,000 people joined rallies that confronted police and spread flames on the streets.

The fury in France reached a new peak when at least 250,000 people joined rallies that confronted police and spread flames on the streets.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said there can be "no room for tolerance of violence", as tens of thousands of students took to the streets nationwide on Tuesday to protest over the state of schools. He told parliament that high schools would clear their schedules for the rest of the week to create space for democratic debate and air grievances.

June Loper, Harrison Stetler France’s education system is stretched to its limits, as student anger kicks off a hot fall protest season. The post Why French Students Are Revolting appeared first on The Nation.