Hundreds of high schools across France remained closed or disrupted Monday after days of arson, vandalism and clashes surrounding student protests, while government officials accused far-left political groups of helping intensify a movement that began over teacher shortages and deteriorating school conditions.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
PARIS — Hundreds of French high schools remained fully or partially closed Monday as authorities prepared for another nationwide round of student demonstrations following days of violence that left schools burned or ransacked, education employees injured and thousands of people detained.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said Sunday that classes would be suspended entirely or in part at between 400 and 500 of France’s roughly 3,700 high schools because adequate security conditions had not been restored. By midday Monday, the Education Ministry said 413 schools “have undergone or are undergoing” protests, blockades or other disruptions, a 27% decrease from the 564 affected at the same point Friday.
The closures followed a week in which demonstrations over conditions in French schools expanded into widespread unrest in several cities. Twenty-four schools were “burned or ransacked,” according to figures Geffray provided in an AFP report, while 78 employees of the National Education Ministry were injured.
“Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students,” Geffray said.
Security concerns, rather than an administrative decision to suspend education nationwide, were driving the closures. Some schools could not reopen because buildings had been damaged, while officials said others remained unsafe after staff members were directly targeted during previous demonstrations.
The government expects another test Tuesday, Oct. 6, when student organizations have called for a new national day of action after rejecting government proposals as insufficient.
The movement began in the Paris region in September with students demanding more teachers, improved school facilities, smaller classes and additional educational resources. Demonstrations initially centered on conditions inside the education system but rapidly expanded geographically and became increasingly confrontational.
More than 1,000 schools were affected by protests or strikes at the height of the mobilization last week. Students erected barricades and blocked entrances at numerous schools, while some demonstrations deteriorated into arson, vandalism, projectile throwing and confrontations with police.
Authorities have recorded more than 5,000 detentions during the recent escalation, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez saying approximately 85% of those detained were minors.
On Friday alone, police detained 1,747 people after 1,954 arrests the previous day. Authorities reported incidents classified as urban violence around 158 schools on Friday.
French officials have increasingly accused elements of the country’s far left of exploiting the original student grievances and escalating the demonstrations.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and other government officials have specifically pointed to Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise, or France Unbowed, and ultra-left organizations, arguing that political activists encouraged school blockades and expanded the protests beyond their original educational demands.
Geffray has described the student movement as legitimate at its outset but said it was subsequently “hijacked” by political groups engaging in “extreme violence.”
French intelligence assessments have indicated that far-left groups played a role in mobilizing demonstrations in some areas, although reporting on those assessments also indicates the movement itself has been fragmented and largely decentralized. A Paris police intelligence assessment reviewed by French media found far-left involvement in Seine-Saint-Denis but did not establish that a single political organization centrally controlled the national movement.
La France Insoumise has rejected government claims that it is responsible for the violence.
Party coordinator Manuel Bompard said the organization “deplores” violent incidents and accused the government of attempting to reduce the broader student movement to the acts of people responsible for vandalism and clashes.
The demonstrations have drawn a mix of participants. Some students have continued peaceful protests over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating facilities and academic pressure, while other gatherings have attracted individuals accused of deliberately seeking confrontations with police.
Education officials have said some of the people responsible for attacks were not students at the schools where the incidents occurred.
The escalation brought striking scenes across France last week.
School buildings were damaged or set ablaze, garbage containers and makeshift barricades were burned, and riot police were deployed as clashes spread beyond the Paris region. Officers used tear gas in some cities while protesters threw objects and erected barriers around schools.
Students have also been injured during the unrest, intensifying criticism of the police response from unions, parents and left-wing politicians.
Government officials have defended police intervention, arguing officers are required to respond when demonstrations shift from peaceful protest to assaults, property destruction and unlawful blockades.
The unrest began building around Sept. 17 and accelerated later in the month as grievances initially voiced at individual schools gained traction through social media and student organizations.
Teacher shortages have been among the most persistent complaints.
Students have said some classes began the academic year without permanent teachers or adequate substitutes. Other complaints involve deteriorating buildings, overcrowding, long school days and what protesters describe as inadequate resources.
Those issues have helped the movement retain support among some parents, teachers and labor organizations even as violence surrounding portions of the protests has generated broader public concern.
By Monday, the Education Ministry reported that 413 institutions were experiencing some form of protest or disruption, according to information reported by Le Figaro.
That represented a significant decline from Friday but also showed that unrest remained widespread despite a quieter weekend.
Officials portrayed the decline as evidence that ongoing talks with students were having some effect. At the same time, authorities noted that a substantial share of the schools affected Monday had not previously experienced disruptions, raising concerns that the movement was continuing to spread geographically even as overall numbers fell.
Lecornu attempted Sunday to lower tensions by announcing a government “roadmap” addressing some of the grievances that originally drove students into the streets.
The prime minister called for national and local authorities to work together to address shortages of teachers and other resources while establishing a process intended to identify gaps within individual schools.
Lecornu outlined the initiative in a public announcement Sunday, presenting it as the government’s effort to respond directly to concerns raised by students.
Student organizations said the proposals failed to deliver sufficiently specific commitments.
Union representatives said they wanted “concrete measures” rather than additional consultations and continued calling for Tuesday’s nationwide mobilization.
The renewed demonstrations could broaden beyond students. Labor organizations have expressed support for the grievances raised by students, increasing concern within the government that the education protests could merge with wider opposition over public spending and France’s economic policies.
The dispute is unfolding as Lecornu’s government works to advance a deficit-reduction budget for 2027 amid pressure from financial markets and disagreements over public spending.
That fiscal environment complicates demands for additional teachers, school renovations and other education spending.
The government has simultaneously sought to separate what it describes as legitimate demands from the violence surrounding some protests.
Officials maintain that students have legitimate concerns that should be addressed through negotiations but contend that organized political groups and outside agitators have used those grievances as an opportunity for confrontation.
Critics of the government dispute that characterization, arguing authorities are focusing disproportionately on violence to discredit a broader student movement.
Independent reporting from protest sites has described a more complicated picture, with peaceful students, organized activists and participants seeking confrontations sometimes appearing at the same gatherings.
The scale of the arrests has itself become a major political issue.
More than 5,000 people were detained during several days of demonstrations, with roughly 85% identified as minors. The extraordinary number reflects both the young age of most participants and the government’s decision to deploy substantial police resources around schools.
The unrest has become one of the most serious youth-led protest movements France has faced in years.
Geffray said Sunday that the condition of dozens of schools illustrated why hundreds could not immediately return to normal operation.
Twenty-four had been set on fire or ransacked, while 78 education employees had been injured since the unrest intensified.
The government hoped the weekend lull would provide an opportunity to reopen schools gradually Monday, but Tuesday’s planned demonstrations could determine whether that decline continues.
Lecornu’s administration is now attempting to pursue two objectives simultaneously: respond to the underlying complaints over France’s schools while preventing another outbreak of arson, vandalism and clashes.
Student groups, meanwhile, say the government’s proposals have yet to answer their demands with firm commitments.
With another nationwide mobilization scheduled for Tuesday, hundreds of schools operating under reduced conditions and thousands of arrests already recorded, the confrontation over France’s education system remains far from resolved.
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