Hundreds Of French Schools Shut As Student Protests Turn Violent

France shut more than 400 schools on Friday as a week of lycée protests over teacher shortages, overcrowding and dilapidated buildings collapsed into street violence. Sixty-five education staff have been injured, 40 of them headteachers. Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested, and the government now insists it is policing a disorder crisis rather than answering a student movement.

The scale

Education Minister Édouard Geffray told BFMTV that 1,207 high schools were disrupted or blocked on Thursday, with 65 staff hurt and “more than a hundred” schools severely damaged. The interior ministry put arrests at 1,949 and injuries to police officers at 305, with 1,027 lycées affected and 222 blockaded. At least 30 universities were reportedly blockaded, including campuses in Rennes and Paris. At Nantes’ Nelson Mandela high school, staff evacuated 160 students.

The government’s framing

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told RTL there is “an active and violent minority” involved, adding, “We’re not entirely sure that they are even high school students themselves.” Two-thirds of those arrested have been placed in police custody. “We have gone from high-school student demonstrations to a public order disturbance. When people target buses and set schools on fire, it is no longer simply a protest issue,” he said. Geffray argues the movement was “hijacked,” quoting teachers who told him, “the people in front of me were not my students.”

What the students want

The grievances predate the disorder, and staff endorse them: not enough teachers and support staff, overcrowded classrooms, too few chairs, and buildings falling into disrepair. Geffray conceded early that some demands were “legitimate.” A teacher in Gironde put it plainly: “their demands are the same as ours.” The Union Syndicale Lycéenne called the blockade because, it said, “other student actions, such as petitions or demonstrations, elicit no response from our political leaders.” It deliberately coincided with a public-sector strike against spending cuts; the FSU teachers’ union backed it as a “collective struggle” for public services.

The cost of escalation

Both sides have paid. Teenagers have suffered eye injuries, and one lost his teeth as riot-equipped police moved on crowds largely composed of minors. Police have been hurt. So have headteachers. In Angers, a teacher was seriously injured after being struck on the head with an iron bar — his attackers were reportedly not from the school.

The political layer

The government and hard-right politicians blame the radical left, particularly La France Insoumise, for igniting the unrest — a charge LFI’s leader rejected, saying blame would not address what is driving the demonstrations. Lecornu’s office cited intelligence services in saying the unrest was organised by the radical left. That argument is politically convenient and legally difficult to sustain while the underlying complaints remain unfunded. With presidential elections months away and a 2027 draft budget seeking some €54 billion in savings, the arithmetic is unforgiving: the fix costs money the government has pledged not to spend.