French Student Protests Spread Nationwide Amid School Crisis

By Staff, Agencies

French schools are preparing to shift some classes online as a rapidly growing student protest movement over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and deteriorating facilities spreads across the country, prompting the government to call a crisis meeting.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis cabinet meeting Thursday and asked ministers to cancel travel plans as demonstrations that began in the Paris region last week expanded nationwide.

Lecornu’s office said the “upsurge in violence makes it virtually impossible to maintain the continuity of public education and is exposing staff and students to danger.” Education Minister Édouard Geffray is due to meet pupil representatives Friday.

Police said around 900 demonstrations, blockades and related incidents were taking place outside high schools across France, with more than 160 schools shut down. Access was also blocked at around 30 university campuses, including in Paris and Marseille.

Nearly 3,000 lycée students aged between 15 and 18 have been detained since the protests began, according to the Interior Ministry, including 1,949 on Thursday alone. More than 300 police officers, along with dozens of firefighters, teachers and pupils, have been injured.

Students have cited overloaded timetables, overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and deteriorating school buildings. They have also complained about extreme classroom temperatures during heatwaves earlier this year.

In Strasbourg, a 17-year-old student told AFP that 35 students were packed into classrooms, making conditions unbearable during summer temperatures of 35°C. He also cited insufficient toilets, water leaks, inadequate cafeteria space and a lack of supervisors and resources.

The demonstrations have also seen incidents of violence and vandalism. Rubbish bins were set on fire outside schools, while more serious arson attempts were reported inside buildings.

A school in Nantes suffered extensive fire damage and is expected to remain closed for a month. Similar incidents were reported in Marseille, Lille and Toulouse.

Riot police have been deployed as tensions intensified, while the Interior Ministry launched an internal investigation following allegations of excessive force against three pupils.

Officials said most injuries resulted from thrown objects, although some were linked to police riot-control projectiles.

The unrest comes amid mounting concerns over the cost of living, with inflation reaching 2.4% year-on-year in August and energy prices rising sharply.

The protests have also taken on a political dimension ahead of France’s presidential election, with the government accusing the hard-left France Unbowed party, or LFI, of encouraging the unrest.

The prime minister’s office cited intelligence services in claiming the protests were organized by the radical left.

LFI figure Manuel Bompard rejected the allegation, accusing the government of “sinking into conspiratorial thinking,” while party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said LFI had called for “non-violent methods of struggle.”