Students and police clash as France struggles to quell school protests

• Riot police clashed with high school students across France over poor classroom conditions and funding cuts, causing injuries and school damage amid rising violence.
• The government plans a below-inflation 1.7 per cent budget increase for education in 2027 but faces widespread protests and criticism for underinvestment.
• Authorities arrested 2,000 people and accused hard-left politicians of inciting unrest, while Amnesty International warned against police brutality towards minors.

PARIS – Riot police clashed with high school students in cities across France on Oct 2, as President Emmanuel Macron’s government battled to contain increasingly violent protests over classroom conditions and funding.

Tear gas clouded the streets in the eastern city of Strasbourg, fireworks were aimed at police lines in Marseille in the south and rubbish bins set ablaze in Rennes in the west.

In Paris, where there were also skirmishes, students waved placards reading: “We have a future to build, not to endure.”

Fire damaged the entrances of two Paris high schools – Leonard de Vinci in the south of the city and Gaston-Bachelard in the south-east – with the fire brigade called to extinguish the blazes, an AFP photographer said.

Six months before the 2027 presidential election, opinion polls consistently show the deep unpopularity of Macron and his centre-right-leaning government. Planned budget cuts, which exacerbate the funding crisis in education, have fuelled the discontent.

Minister says parents should pay reparations

The protests erupted in the Paris region last week but have turned increasingly violent as they spread nationwide.

The Education Ministry said students disrupted lessons at more than 560 schools on Oct 2.

It earlier said 400 high schools – roughly 1 in 10 – were expected to be closed.

Many high schools have planned to conduct classes remotely, particularly in the southern city of Marseille.

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio that police had arrested 2,000 people, most of them teenagers, since the protests began. He said that parents of those inflicting damage to property should be made to pay reparations.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray urged parents to dissuade their children from protesting in the streets.

“In the streets, the children are in danger,” Geffray told BFM TV.

He said at least 65 staff members have been injured, including 40 high school principals, since the start of the movement.

Some 170 students have been wounded while more than 100 high schools have suffered “severe damage”.

Several students in the Paris region whom Reuters spoke to outside high schools earlier in the week said they were staying away from the protests on Oct 2 due to the escalating violence.

Darmanin said the student protest movement had been hijacked by “outsiders”.

Education to get below-inflation budget increase

Students blockading their high schools have voiced anger over overcrowding in classrooms, regular shortages of teachers and dilapidated buildings, blaming years of underinvestment.

“We are 35 per class, we don’t have enough chairs in classrooms, the one hour lunch break (is too short) for everyone to get food,” 15-year-old Kesia told Reuters in the Paris suburb of Pantin before running off as the police used tear gas.

The government says the grievances are legitimate but has condemned what it has described as “urban violence”.

Under the draft 2027 budget presented by the government on Oct 1, the education budget is set to increase by a below-inflation 1.7 per cent to €65.53 billion (S$94.2 billion), excluding teacher pensions.

Education is traditionally the largest budget item, but that changes in 2027 with debt servicing costs expected to reach €74.5 billion, according to the draft Bill.

Hard-left LFI denies stoking protests

Intelligence agencies told a crisis meeting on Oct 1 that the protest movement had been initiated by politicians from the hard left, including members of La France Insoumise (LFI).

Senior LFI lawmakers rebutted the allegations and accused the government of politicising the protests ahead of the election to replace Macron.

Students and rights groups have accused the police of using heavy-handed tactics against minors, including the use of batons, tear gas and non-lethal flash-ball guns.

Amnesty International cautioned against the excessive use of police force. “Students must be protected, not beaten with batons,” the advocacy group said on social media platform X.

The Interior Ministry on Oct 2 said that it had opened three investigations into police violence against protesters.

In a sign the protests may spread beyond French borders, some high school students in the city of Liege, in Belgium, began protesting on Oct 1. A city hall spokesperson said high schools were closed on Oct 2. REUTERS, AFP