French school protests spread nationwide with 440 detentions and 76 injuries reported

Escalating blockades across French high schools

High school blockades expanded across France on Wednesday as students demonstrated against teacher shortages, crowded classrooms, and deteriorating school buildings. The Ministry of National Education reported that disruptions affected approximately 400 of France's 3,700 high schools. Demonstrations began in the Paris region late last week before spreading to Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rennes, Marseille, and Strasbourg. In Paris, about 80 students gathered outside the Lamartine school displaying banners that complained of having more hours of lessons than sleep. At the Montebello high school in Lille, students erected barricades from rubbish bins and rental bikes, while approximately 100 students rallied outside Lycée Bréquigny in Rennes. The student union Union syndicale lycéenne called for school blockades to continue on Thursday and demanded direct talks with the education minister.

Clashes, detentions, and reported injuries

Confrontations between demonstrators and security forces occurred outside several campuses, requiring police units to secure firefighters who were extinguishing burning barricades. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated on television that police detained 440 people nationwide on Tuesday alone, most of them minors, with approximately two-thirds placed into police custody. Nuñez also reported seven incidents where individuals threw hydrochloric acid at law enforcement officers, alongside projectiles including bottles and paving stones. Authorities stated that 48 police officers sustained injuries, and one teenager in the Paris region lost a hand while attempting to throw a pyrotechnic device. Speaking on RTL radio on Wednesday, Education Minister Édouard Geffray confirmed the aggregate casualty count.

Since the beginning of these demonstrations, 76 injuries have been recorded, both among students and among staff.

Political friction and the upcoming budget

The student unrest coincided on Tuesday with a broader public sector strike over government expenditure plans. Tensions mounted ahead of the scheduled presentation of France's 2027 national budget on Thursday, which outlines spending reductions across public sectors. Lawmakers from the left-wing party La France Insoumise joined student gatherings, drawing criticism from government officials who accused the party of stoking unrest. In the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, where police deployed batons against crowds, mayor Bally Bagayoko stated that his remarks had been taken out of context. Left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticised the police response on social networks, describing the use of force as unacceptable. Speaking in Madrid on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron addressed the student demonstrations.

I hear and understand the anxieties and sometimes the anger of our youth.

Structural shortages in French education

Macron added that political figures should not egg students on, while Education Minister Geffray acknowledged that certain student concerns over working conditions were legitimate even as he condemned violent acts. Demonstrators have focused attention on chronic staffing gaps in secondary education, where French teachers earn on average half of what German teachers receive. The resulting recruitment difficulties have led to frequent class cancellations, particularly in core subjects such as mathematics and French. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, French public spending on primary and secondary education remains in the middle range among member countries. While French education spending grew between 2015 and 2022, its proportional share within the overall national budget declined slightly.