Students block schools across Liège and France over staffing shortages

Protests disrupt schools across Liège

Secondary school students launched spontaneous blockades across the province of Liège on the morning of Thursday, 1 October 2026. The demonstrations affected around ten educational institutions, including the Athénée de Fragnée, École Saint-Laurent, Saint-Sépulcre, and École Marie-Thérèse along Rue Hors-Château, as well as campuses in Ans, Esneux, and Visé. Demonstrators set fires to electric scooters and threw projectiles, including firecrackers, eggs, apples, and street barriers. Local police intervened to manage the unrest, reporting extensive property damage focused in the Hors-Château district. Students outlined four core demands: smaller classroom sizes, sufficient teaching personnel, direct consultation with students and parents, and affordable school access, alongside opposition to higher tuition fees for higher education.

In some schools, there is a desire to stay all day. In other establishments, there was one or two hours of action before the students returned to the buildings. However, other schools could follow and take over tomorrow.

French universities join nationwide high school actions

Similar unrest expanded across France on Thursday as university campuses joined secondary school blockades that began the previous week in the Paris suburbs. According to the student union Union étudiante, approximately 30 university faculties blocked entrances on Thursday morning, including campuses in Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille, Lyon 2, Reims, Poitiers, and Nanterre, prompting some institutions to switch to distance learning. High schools in Paris, Marseille, Strasbourg, and Rennes faced disruptions, with crowds gathering outside Lycée Bréquigny, the largest high school in Brittany. In the Rhône department, the local prefecture reported that 27 educational establishments, including five middle schools, experienced protest actions by 08:30 on Thursday. Students across France cited heavy class schedules and unassigned substitute teachers as main reasons for staging walkouts.

They do not listen to us, we are forced to go out into the street. We have an 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule that is heavy to bear, we cannot keep up with this rhythm, there are teachers who are not replaced, there is even a class that does not have a head teacher.

Clashes, injuries, and police inquiries

French government records show that protest actions affected 338 secondary schools on Tuesday, 29 September, and grew to 356 establishments on Wednesday, 30 September. Tensions between demonstrators and security forces resulted in physical injuries at several French locations. In Tours, a young demonstrator sustained head injuries on Wednesday and required hospital care for wounds that the local public prosecutor described as compatible with a rubber projectile round. France's police oversight body, the IGPN, opened three separate investigations into student injuries sustained during school entrance blockades. The president of the high school union Union syndicale lycéenne condemned the police response, comparing the tactics to crowd control methods used during previous demonstrations.

Government responses and reform debate

Authorities in both countries responded to the disruption while attempting to address student concerns. In France, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced on Wednesday the creation of an online consultation platform where secondary school pupils can submit feedback regarding school conditions. In Belgium, government officials criticized the methods used during the Liège actions. The Belgian Education Minister stated on social media that no recent policies had reduced student supervision, noting that additional funding had been directed toward struggling pupils. The Belgian Interior Minister accused activist groups of manipulating youth and stirring disorder, pointing to unrest that damaged property at the regional parliament in Namur on 4 June.