French Students Return to Protests as Police Brace for Unrest

French high school students are expected to resume nationwide protests this week, demanding reforms, better school resources and action on inequalities, as authorities prepare for another round of demonstrations that have challenged President Emmanuel Macron's government.

Students are calling for improvements to classroom facilities, equal conditions for schools in less affluent areas, changes to the education system and shorter hours spent at school.

After a weekend pause, high school students are expected to return to barricades, raising concerns that violence around the protests could intensify and further blur the distinction between demonstrations and rioting. Another question is whether Macron's government will strengthen the already muscular police response.

The interior minister said officers made more than 5,000 arrests last week, with minors accounting for 85%, during clashes between students and security forces that injured hundreds of people. The movement's ability to maintain its momentum and attract support will be tested Tuesday, when the influential CGT labor union is also calling on workers to demonstrate.

The protests began in the Paris region in mid-September after teachers and students mobilized over staff shortages at a lycée in Creteil, in the southeastern outskirts of the capital. Class strikes, blockades and demonstrations subsequently spread to other Paris suburbs and across the country, including high schools in smaller towns.

Education Minister said around 400 or 500 schools have been forced to close because of damage or attacks targeting staff and are expected to remain shut early this week. He said more than 170 students and 78 staff members have been injured.

From the beginning, students have focused on what they see as inequalities in education, arguing that teaching, facilities and opportunities for advancement are worse for pupils in disadvantaged neighborhoods despite France's national motto, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”

Photos posted by Clémence Guetté, the district's lawmaker at the National Assembly, showed placards carried by the first protesters in Creteil reading “Too many inequalities, we’re disgusted,” “Education is a right, not a privilege,” and “Sorry to bother, it’s for our future.”

Paris literature teacher Sophie Bordy, 50, said the public should understand how much conditions in schools have worsened. “The public needs to know that conditions for studying are no longer what they were for us,” she said. “It has deteriorated significantly.”

Students elsewhere have complained about classrooms becoming unbearably hot during summer heat waves because they lack air conditioning and becoming cold in winter. French media have shown footage of rats running through schools, collapsed ceilings, leaks, damaged furniture and other problems in deteriorating buildings.

Education is among the most expensive areas in the state budget proposed by Macron's government for 2027. The plan allocates €65.5 billion to schools, exceeding the €63.4 billion proposed for defense.

Students are also protesting the length of the school day. High school classes often begin at 8 a.m. local time and continue into the early evening, while compulsory school hours for French high school students are among the highest in Europe, according to European Union figures.

One placard photographed by French media carried the message, “I see the teachers more than my family.”

Guetté, who posted photos of herself meeting the first protesters in Creteil while holding a bullhorn, is a rising figure in the far-left France Unbowed party. Other France Unbowed lawmakers and elected officials quickly expressed support for the demonstrations, meeting students and backing their demands.

France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on party members and supporters to shield students from police by positioning themselves between protesters and officers.

Mélenchon has condemned what he described as the “savagery” of police, who have used tear gas and batons extensively to disperse crowds.

Police riot-control projectiles are suspected of causing some facial injuries suffered by young protesters. Hundreds of police officers have also been injured, according to the interior minister's office.

Critics of Mélenchon accuse France Unbowed of exploiting and manipulating students for political purposes. Mélenchon, a fiery anti-capitalist, says his party supports the movement but is not organizing it and wants the protests to remain non-violent.

Mélenchon, 75, is seeking the French presidency for a fourth time in 2027 and is courting younger voters.

Young people voted at lower rates than other age groups in the 2022 presidential election but could help Mélenchon reach the decisive second-round runoff in May, a stage he has never managed to reach, if he succeeds in mobilizing them to vote.

“What we want is for this country’s young people to emerge from this episode with their heads held high, having won something and learned something, and to remember it when they cast their ballots,” Mélenchon said Thursday.