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French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that 440 people were detained on Tuesday alone with a further 625 taken into custody the following day as student-led blockades disrupted high schools across the country. The education ministry placed the injury toll at 119 since the protests began including students teachers and law enforcement officers. Education Minister Édouard Geffray described the core student demands as legitimate even as he condemned associated violence as indefensible and announced plans for a new consultation platform where pupils can submit grievances directly.
Students have complained of classes containing up to 35 pupils frequent teacher absences that go unreplaced and daily schedules running from 8am until 6pm leaving them with more hours of lessons than sleep. One 16-year-old female student told the AFP news agency that the education system is completely broken because there are 34 of us in each class and the teachers are overworked. Poor building conditions including lack of air conditioning and insulation exposed during June heatwaves plus reports of cockroaches and rats have compounded the anger according to accounts gathered by Reuters correspondents.
The Union Syndicale Lycéenne which represents high school students called the blockades a legitimate response to years of underfunding and issued a statement blaming 10 years of policies under President Emmanuel Macron for the lack of resources. Union president Ryad Rani told reporters the protests target overcrowded classrooms of sometimes 32 to 35 students along with a general shortage of teachers and staff. Teachers union secretary-general Caroline Cheve said pupils and teachers share the same frustrations over staffing shortages and overcrowded classrooms adding that students see the same reality as we do and they are angry.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned that any escalation in the student protests would be irresponsible and highlighted incidents of fireworks fires and violence near school buildings. President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Madrid that high schools are meant to be open and to share knowledge rather than blockaded or to have trash cans set on fire. The interior ministry noted that protests had affected more than 350 high schools at their peak out of roughly 3,700 nationwide according to official tallies.
The demonstrations coincided with a nationwide public sector strike involving teachers hospital staff and civil servants who protested low wages and working conditions ahead of the planned 2027 budget. Government officials have indicated the budget will include 54 billion euros in spending cuts which has further inflamed tensions. A Reuters assessment drawing on OECD data found that French education spending increased between 2015 and 2022 yet its share of the overall budget slightly declined placing the country in the middle range among member states.
By October 1 the unrest had spread to more than 15 university campuses with blockades reported in Strasbourg Marseille Lyon and Poitiers according to the Union Étudiante. Additional violence that day included attackers dousing a headteacher in petrol at a Marseille high school and fires breaking out at schools in Nantes and elsewhere local prosecutors and fire services reported. The education ministry said it would roll out measures to address underlying concerns while the interior ministry continued to monitor the situation for further escalation.
