More than 625 people—most of them students—were arrested during two days of violent demonstrations near schools and universities across France. Protesters cite teacher shortages, deteriorating facilities, overcrowded classrooms, government budget reductions and lengthy school days.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called an emergency meeting Thursday and asked ministers to cancel planned travel as the unrest intensified. The protests began at schools in the Paris region last week before spreading nationwide.
A protesting student feeds a burning barrier during a blockade outside Le Corbusier secondary school in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, on Oct. 1, 2026. (Lou Benoist/AFP Via Getty Images)
More than 350 high schools and roughly 30 university campuses were affected Thursday, according to reports. RFI said 83 police officers and gendarmes were injured that day, while 119 students and school employees have suffered injuries since the demonstrations began last week.
Reuters reported that the principal of Marseille’s Victor Hugo High School was doused with gasoline and hurt. Two other principals were injured in separate attacks in Rouen and Petit-Quevilly. Police deployed tear gas in several cities, as students accused authorities of using excessive force. Officials, meanwhile, warned of “urban violence” and alleged attempted arson at several schools.
The unrest comes just two weeks after the government unveiled a series of widely unpopular spending reductions in its proposed 2027 budget. That timing has turned the student movement into a major political test for France’s government.
Students flee tear gas during clashes with police amid continuing protests in Lyon, central-eastern France, on Oct. 1, 2026. Since late September, students have demonstrated outside schools over concerns including schedules, class sizes, teacher shortages and classrooms made unbearably hot by this year’s heatwaves. (Alex Martin AFP via Getty Images)
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ senior envoy to Europe, told News Outlet that students’ complaints about missing teachers and crumbling schools were initially legitimate. But she said attacks on principals and firefighters represented “extreme violence.” The broader political significance, she added, lies in attempts to transform frustration over education into a wider challenge to the government.
The Associated Press reported that the demonstrations are rapidly becoming a central issue in the campaign to succeed President Emmanuel Macron next May. Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has condemned the government’s response as repressive. Opponents accuse his party, La France Insoumise, or LFI, of exploiting the unrest for political advantage and encouraging violence.
Students confront police during continuing demonstrations in Lyon, central-eastern France, on Oct. 1, 2026. Protests that began in the Île-de-France region around Paris over schedules, class sizes, teacher shortages and overheated classrooms have since spread to cities across the country. (Alex Martin AFP via Getty Images)
Rodan-Benzaquen said LFI has “actively supported the mobilization,” with party activists sharing footage of confrontations, official accounts amplifying the scenes and elected representatives portraying themselves as student advocates. With an election approaching, she said Mélenchon views the protests as a means of consolidating support among younger voters and sidelining the moderate left. She described the moment as especially dangerous given France’s political, geopolitical and economic pressures.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with reporters after an EU summit at the Justus Lipsius building, the headquarters of the European Council, on March 22, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
A video shared on social media appears to show Bally Bagayoko, the LFI mayor of Seine-Saint-Denis, joining students, smiling and high-fiving pupils after a trash can was set ablaze in the street. The president of the Île-de-France region told Radio Monte Carlo that LFI was issuing a call to action—“Trash your high school”—and that the message was being promoted through TikTok challenges.
Speaking to reporters in Madrid on Wednesday, Macron said high schools should remain places where students can learn and exchange ideas. “They are not meant to be blockaded or to have trash cans set on fire,” he said.
