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The French interior ministry reported that 440 people had been detained across the country as student-led blockades spread from the Paris suburbs to cities including Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes and Marseille, according to a Reuters dispatch from the scene. Education ministry figures placed the number of affected high schools at about 400 out of roughly 3,700 nationwide, with many protests coinciding with a broader public-sector strike over pay and working conditions. In several locations rubbish bins were set alight outside school gates while protesters hurled bottles, paving stones and other objects at officers, who responded with batons and tear gas, an Al Jazeera report detailed. At least 48 law enforcement officers sustained injuries during the day’s events, the interior ministry told BFM TV.
Confrontations intensified at specific sites, including the Lycée Brequigny in Rennes where around 100 students threw projectiles at the building, as captured by an AFP video journalist cited in multiple outlets. In Lille, high school pupils burned dustbins and vandalised bus shelters and advertising hoardings before police deployed tear gas, the Guardian reported from the ground. Similar scenes unfolded in Saint-Denis north of Paris, where a fire burned near school gates as students stood outside, Reuters correspondents observed. A separate incident in Marseille involved attackers dousing a headteacher in petrol, prompting a crisis meeting in the prime minister’s office, a later Reuters update stated.
The protests originated last week in the Île-de-France region around Paris and rapidly expanded, driven by long-standing grievances including teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, exhausting timetables and buildings in disrepair, according to statements from the Union Syndicale Lycéenne. Education Minister Edouard Geffray told reporters that 119 injuries had been recorded among students and school staff since the demonstrations began, with most affected staff being principals and teachers. One student reportedly lost partial use of a hand after setting off a firework, Geffray added in remarks carried by the New York Times. The French education ministry has previously noted that such conditions affect a significant portion of the country’s lycees.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned the violence in a post on X, stating “Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff or police.” President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to reporters in Madrid, said “High schools are meant to be open and to share knowledge. They are not meant to be blockaded or to have trash cans set on fire.” Left-wing opposition leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticised the government’s response on X, describing it as having “a clear racist undertone” and urging activists to intervene, as quoted in the Guardian. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez briefed BFM TV that two-thirds of those detained were placed in police custody, though final tallies remained pending.
The demonstrations overlapped with a nationwide public-sector walkout involving teachers, hospital staff and civil servants protesting low wages and planned budget cuts ahead of the 2027 budget announcement on Thursday, a Reuters analysis noted. Unions estimated turnout at 300,000 people across France for the strike action, while police put the Paris figure at 30,000. The timing has amplified pressure on the government as it prepares spending reductions aimed at easing fiscal strains, according to government statements compiled by Al Jazeera. Student unions framed the actions as a legitimate response to systemic underfunding spanning a decade.
By October 1, the toll had risen further with additional fires reported at schools in Nantes and Marseille, including one that forced the evacuation of the Nelson Mandela high school, CNN reported from the sites. French public-sector unions and teaching organisations expressed outrage over videos showing attacks on teachers, prompting further condemnation from officials. The education ministry continues to monitor the situation at affected institutions while emphasising that schools should remain spaces for learning rather than protest action.
