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French high school protests over overcrowded classes, teacher shortages and crumbling buildings have escalated into what the government calls urban violence, with 1,949 arrests on Thursday, hundreds of injuries and more than 160 schools shut.
French high school protests have escalated into what the government calls urban violence, with police making 1,949 arrests on Thursday and 305 officers injured. About 900 demonstrations, blockades and related incidents were under way outside high schools around the country, police and a security source said, with more than 160 schools shut down.
French Students Protest Overcrowded Classrooms And Facilities
Students aged 15 to 18 have protested over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, overloaded timetables and crumbling facilities. They also cite unbearable temperatures in classrooms during heatwaves earlier this year. The protests began in the Paris region last week and have snowballed across the country. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called a crisis cabinet meeting on Thursday and told ministers to cancel travel plans to deal with the demonstrations.
His 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. The education minister, Édouard Geffray, is to meet pupil representatives on Friday. Access was also blocked to about 30 university campuses on Thursday, including in Paris and Marseille, as university students joined the protests. Authorities in the Paris region said around 50 schools had been the scene of violence, clashes and damage.
Police Arrests Rise Amid Violence At Schools
Hundreds of lycée students have been detained since the protests began, including 625 on Wednesday alone, the interior ministry said. More than 80 police officers and firefighters and 120 pupils and teachers have been injured. Injuries have come mainly from hurled objects but also from police-fired riot-control projectiles. The interior ministry announced an internal police investigation after accusations of excessive force and brutality by officers against three pupils.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned what he described as unbridled violence. Riot police have been deployed to confront the increasingly violent protests. Several school principals were injured, harassed or assaulted during blockades at high schools on Thursday, according to regional education authorities, prefectures and union representatives. In Marseille, a school principal and his deputy were splashed with petrol, and there were attempts to light fires inside two schools.
In one, a teacher was splashed with petrol. In Nantes, firefighters had to intervene to extinguish a fire in the entrance of a high school following a gathering marked by violence towards staff, the regional education board said. Fire damage in one school in Nantes was so extensive that it will stay closed for a month, authorities said. Rubbish bins have been set on fire outside many schools and more serious arson attempts have been reported inside some buildings.
Violence Spreads To Transport Networks In Several Cities
Authorities reported violence near high schools, mainly in Nantes, blaming violent individuals who join the students to carry out acts of vandalism. In Strasbourg, trams were ordered to halt to restrict the movements of rioters and demonstrators, the regional prefect said, after protesting students obstructed the tracks with crowd control barriers. In Toulouse, hundreds of young people flooded the tram tracks, some toppling trash cans and starting fires, hurling projectiles or smashing bus shelters.
In Lille, young people wearing black hoodies destroyed the glass of a bus stop. Nearby, students took photos of themselves in front of burning rubbish bins, holding up a sign with their school name ripped off the tram stop. Most pupils did not take part in any vandalism, instead breaking into a sprint down an avenue when police fired tear gas. A 17-year-old Strasbourg student named Raphael said there are 35 of us per classroom.
With 35 degrees Celsius in summer it is unbearable. There are not enough toilets and there are water leaks in some rooms. Another 17-year-old Strasbourg student said the building is falling apart, the cafeteria is too small, and there is zero budget and zero resources. In the northern city of Caen, 16-year-old Maelle said she wished those setting bins on fire would protest with words.
She said students were protesting against this government that does not invest in heating, air conditioning, or teachers' salaries. While many teachers and several headteachers have reported being physically threatened and sometimes attacked, some support their pupils. Juliette Estiville, a high-school Spanish teacher in Paris, said the police response had disgusted her. She said she was there to provide protection and form a barrier between the police and the students.
Government Blames Leftist Party For Protests
The government accused the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) of encouraging the protests and cited the intelligence service to justify claims that the movement had been organised by the radical left. LFI's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, insisted on Thursday that his party backed non-violent methods of struggle. He added that his greatest worry is an unbearable level of police violence against these young people.
Manuel Bompard, a leading figure in LFI, quickly dismissed the government's claim, accusing it of sinking into conspiratorial thinking. Several LFI MPs and mayors, including Bally Bagayoko, the LFI mayor of the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, cheered at demonstrations. The latest wave of social unrest comes with tensions already running high over inflation, particularly soaring fuel prices, and just seven months away from France's presidential election where opinion polls suggest far-right leader Marine Le Pen is the frontrunner.
In neighbouring Belgium, there were protests and damage at a handful of schools in the eastern city of Liege, police said.
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abcnews:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Student Protests High Schools Education Crisis Teacher Shortages Public Education France School Protests French High School Demonstrations Classroom Overcrowding France Unbowed Party
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