French Prime Minister Lecornu pledges school reforms as student protests continue nationwide

Nationwide school blockades and turnout

Nationwide demonstrations over deteriorating conditions in French secondary education continued on Wednesday following large rallies a day earlier. Education unions reported 450,000 participants on Tuesday, while the Interior Ministry placed attendance at 256,000. School blockades affected one in two high schools in the Paris region and one in four across France, leading to precautionary full or partial closures at 528 schools on Wednesday morning. Students also established blockades at universities, including Sciences Po Paris, ahead of further union-called demonstrations scheduled for Thursday.

Clashes, injuries and police tactics

The movement, which originated in mid-September in the Greater Paris region over teacher shortages and dilapidated facilities, has seen recurring clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Official figures indicate 215 students and 715 police officers have sustained injuries since the start of the unrest, while the Justice Ministry recorded approximately 6,100 arrests, with minors accounting for over 80% of those detained. Several severe injuries among teenagers prompted scrutiny of police methods, including a 15-year-old who lost his left hand on Monday in Lens after picking up a police stun grenade, a 16-year-old blinded in one eye by a rubber projectile in Tours, and a 14-year-old in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône who suffered a double jaw fracture from a tear gas canister. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced on Wednesday that police would suspend the use of stun grenades at student demonstrations.

Lecornu offers operational shifts without extra funds

In a national address on Wednesday evening following a cabinet crisis meeting convened by President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu outlined government concessions. Lecornu confirmed an additional €1.2 billion for the education budget in the upcoming fiscal plan, rejecting union demands for a €10 billion expansion. Lecornu pledged more substitute teachers, school infrastructure renovations, revised daily schedules, revisions to the university admissions platform Parcoursup, and enhanced student participation mechanisms. He also cited 40,000 submissions received on a student feedback platform opened on Monday.

Nobody can remain indifferent to their fears. They were children or at the beginning of their youth during the coronavirus pandemic, we demanded considerable efforts from them, and since then they see wars, climate change and sometimes their relatives in distress.

Political friction and municipal tensions

The demonstrations have generated sharp political disputes seven months before the French presidential election. Lecornu and former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal accused the left-wing party La France insoumise of exploiting youth grievances. In Saint-Denis, Mayor Bally Bagayoko faced scrutiny over video footage from high school demonstrations, while he called on the government to de-escalate law enforcement procedures.

I turn to the interior minister: instructions must urgently be revised before a tragedy occurs.

Nathanaël Combary of the student association Renouveau lycéen publicly condemned violent acts during the protests, urging participants to avoid escalation.