Police have detained hundreds as students protest overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, and deteriorating facilities across France. Students have set fire to bins and erected blockades outside schools in several cities, voicing their concerns over these issues. Reports from regional education authorities, prefectures, and union representatives indicate that several school principals were injured, harassed, or assaulted during the protests at high schools on Thursday.
Hundreds of protesters have been detained at lycees, which are attended by students aged 15 to 18 for their final three years of secondary education in France. At Marseille’s Victor Hugo high school, local authorities reported that teachers were inadvertently splashed with petrol when a student attempted to throw it into a rubbish bin. Earlier, the prosecutor’s office stated that teachers had been assaulted and “doused in petrol.”
In another incident at Saint-Exupery high school in Marseille, hundreds of young people surrounded a firetruck that had arrived to extinguish a blaze, forcing firefighters to flee the vehicle before setting it alight. In Nantes, firefighters extinguished a fire at a high school entrance following a gathering described by regional education officials as “marked by violence towards staff.” In Strasbourg, trams were halted to restrict the movements of rioters and demonstrators, while students burned barriers on tram tracks, according to authorities.
A 17-year-old student, Raphael, expressed frustration about the conditions, stating, “There are 35 of us per classroom. With 35 degrees Celsius [95 degrees Fahrenheit] in summer, it’s unbearable. There aren’t enough toilets, and there are water leaks in some rooms.” He added, “The building is falling apart, the cafeteria is too small. There’s zero budget, zero resources, not enough supervisors.”
This wave of student anger has spread across France since last week, with approximately 340 demonstrations reported outside high schools by mid-morning on Thursday, leading to the shutdown of more than 160 schools, according to police. University students have also joined the protests, blocking access to about 30 campuses, including those in Paris and Marseille, as reported by a student union.
Authorities have reported numerous injuries, some resulting from thrown objects and others from police riot-control projectiles. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced that police have opened internal investigations into allegations of brutality involving three students. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting and requested ministers to cancel upcoming official travel to focus on the demonstrations. French Education Minister Edouard Geffray stated he would meet with representative staff unions and parent and student associations on Friday.
The unrest has become intertwined with the upcoming presidential race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron next May. The government has accused the far-left France Unbowed party of inciting the protests. Presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon stated that his party “called for nonviolent methods of struggle” and criticized the government's response as repressive.