French High Schools Shut Down As Student Protests Escalate Nationwide

More than 400 French high schools remained shut on Friday as weeks of student protests over decaying facilities, overcrowded classes, and teacher shortages escalated into widespread urban clashes, resulting in roughly 2,000 arrests and dozens of injuries among security forces and educators.

Nationwide Blockades and Campus Fires Force Mass School Closures

The wave of demonstrations, which erupted at secondary schools in the Paris region last month, has expanded into a fast-growing protest by secondary school students across the country. More than 400 educational establishments were closed on Friday, while education authorities noted that approximately 1,200 institutions had experienced disruptions or blockages.

School students in France protest against deteriorating classroom conditions | DW News

In the regional capital of Paris, fires damaged the entrances of the Leonard de Vinci high school in the south and the Gaston-Bachelard school in the southeast. Similar arson incidents and blockades involving burning rubbish bins paralyzed campuses in Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes, Lyon, and Lille. In Marseille, attackers targeted a fire truck that had arrived to extinguish a blaze at Saint-Exupéry high school, forcing firefighters to abandon the vehicle before setting it on fire.

Authorities in the southeastern region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes reported at least €25 million in infrastructure damage within their jurisdiction alone.

Students outside the Lycée Voltaire in Paris with placards reading: "Protest is a fundamental right" and "You don't want to — Photo: dw.com

Protests Leave Hundreds of Students and Staff Injured

The confrontation between protesters and security personnel has left hundreds injured. Education Minister Édouard Geffray reported that 65 staff members had been injured, including 40 head teachers. In one incident in Marseille, a head teacher at Victor Hugo high school was doused in petrol and injured during an attack.

Interior Ministry figures show that nearly 3,000 students aged 15 to 18 have been detained since the unrest began, with 1,949 arrests recorded on Thursday alone. Across the country, approximately 300 police officers and firefighters have also required treatment for injuries.

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Student groups and legal representatives countered that protesters have faced excessive force from law enforcement.

Grievances Over Infrastructure Meet Government Crackdown and Political Blame

Students at the center of the movement trace their anger to chronic underinvestment in the public education system. Pupils have cited dilapidated buildings, freezing prefabricated classrooms in winter, extreme summer heat, and severe shortages of substitute teachers.

Hundreds of French schools shut as protests turn violent

There are no windows, in the prefab toilets there’s no water, there are cockroaches and rats everywhere in the school. The school canteen is too expensive, there is no toilet paper in the toilets and we need to go and ask school supervisors to get some.

Fadila, student at Lycée Paul Éluard, via CNN

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened an inter-ministerial crisis meeting to address the crisis, warning that any escalation in violence was irresponsible. The government asserted that domestic intelligence briefings indicated the unrest was initiated by politicians from the left-wing La France Insoumise party, an allegation denied by party officials. LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon maintained that his party supported non-violent methods while criticizing what he termed an unbearable level of police action against young people.

Amid calls from officials for parents to keep children off the streets, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that he had asked prosecutors to hold parents financially liable for property damage caused by their underage children. Meanwhile, student unions have called for a nationwide day of mass demonstrations on Tuesday under the slogan Police out of schools!

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who has brown hair and wears a navy suit with white shirt and black tie, arrives to — Photo: BBC

In the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, roughly 80 students gathered outside institutions while young people massed before lines of riot police, deploying rubbish bins and crowd control barriers. Far-left lawmakers participated in demonstrations, with Saint-Denis mayor Bally Bagayoko telling journalists that violence can occasionally be considered legitimate while also asserting that youth ought to be held accountable for breaking the law. Île-de-France regional president Valérie Pécresse announced intentions to invoice Bagayoko for 100,000 euros in repair costs at the Lycée Paul Éluard.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray stated that violent individuals were infiltrating student groups to take the movement hostage, urging parents to keep their children away from the protests. Similar sentiments were echoed across the country, where students in Paris hoisted placards bearing slogans such as more hours of lessons than sleep and 8am to 6pm, are we pupils or under arrest? Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faced concurrent pressure from nationwide union strikes and demonstrations regarding his government’s budget.

Amid French school protests, students seek 'respect, dignity and decent working conditions'

In Nantes, teenagers piled up dozens of bins to block the entrance of the Lycee Gabriel Guist’hau, while an uneasy standoff unfolded between thirty students and police forces at the Arago school in Paris.