A 15-year-old lost a hand earlier this week after police fired a stun grenade

France suspends stun grenades after student injury

07 Oct 2026, 10:04 · RTE.ie

The French government said it was pausing the use of stun ⁠grenades in its policing of student protests, after a 15-year-old boy lost his hand during a clash with riot police, fueling protesters' accusations of police brutality.

Protests showed no sign of easing, with more than 500 schools closed a day after demonstrations swept across the country, and unions representing high-school students, teachers and other workers planning more marches for tomorrow.

The wave of protests has been going on for more than two weeks and has exposed widespread public anger six months ahead of an election to replace President Emmanuel Macron.

France cannot remain "indifferent" to the concerns of students whose protests have shaken the country, its prime minister said, adding that the "anger of young people does not come from nowhere".

In a televised address, Sébastien Lecornu denied that security forces have "orders to confront" the young people, after scenes of violent clashes.

He also promised the government would present its first decisions to respond to the crisis "at the end of October".

He previously described the unrest as the most violent student demonstrations in decades.

Earlier at Lycee Lamartine, a school in central Paris, protesters sang the Marseillaise, chanted slogans and performed Mexican waves as they blockaded the entrance to the school.

"We saw there were lots of crumbling walls, a shortage of teachers in public schools, absent teachers," said Gabriel Fillieule, who used to attend a public school but now goes to a private one.

He and others said they were protesting to demand better learning conditions for all.

Students blockade a school with a banner reading 'fewer cops, more money'

Police's use of force being investigated

While most of the blockades today were peaceful, police used tear ‌gas and pushed back protesters in a street barricaded by rubbish ⁠bins outside Sciences Po university in central Paris.

Rights groups, labour unions, students and some opposition politicians have accused the police of using disproportionate force to quell the wave of protests.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he had ordered the suspension of the use of stun grenades following an incident in the northern city of Lens on Monday in which there was a "strong possibility" the firing of a stun grenade had caused a teenager to lose his hand.

"I am suspending their use for the high-school students' movement until light has been shed on what happened in this case," said the minister, who added that 18 incidents in total had been ‌referred to the police inspectorate for investigation.

Hundreds of schools are at least partially closed as students block doors with bins

Protesters have said they blame poor learning conditions fora sharp drop in French teenagers' scores in reading and maths over the past decade.

French 15-year-olds scored 43 points lower in reading in 2025 than in 2015, according to the OECD's Programme ⁠for International Student Assessment, the biggest drop among the OECD countries.

Their scores in maths also dropped the most.

But the government, under pressure to tame public debt amid weak growth, has little spare ‌cash to address students' complaints of teacher shortages, ageing school buildings and inequalities between schools in affluent and poor areas.

Schools damaged by fire or vandalism

Education Minister Edouard Geffray told parliament that 24 secondary schools had been damaged by fire or vandalism to the extent that they would remain closed for weeks, meaning some 30,000 students would receive no in-person teaching until they reopened.

Students blockade Sciences Po Paris university on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris

He estimated it would cost €20-€30 million to fix the damage.

Far-right presidential candidate Marine ⁠Le Pen, the frontrunner according to opinion polls, said those who damaged schools should pay for the repairs rather than taxpayers.

The government has adopted a similar stance and has a bill going through parliament ⁠that aims to set up such a system.

Elsewhere in Europe, where budgets have been under pressure as governments respond to successive cost-of-living and energy crises, students in parts of Belgium staged similar protests.

In the Belgian city of Liege in the southern French-speaking Wallonia region, at least 107 people have been arrested in connection with student protests this month, the Belga news agency reported.

Students march from Central Station to the Federal Parliament in Brussels, Belgium

Teachers are also on strike.

In Portugal, the main teachers' union FENPROF launched an indefinite strike in mid-September over working conditions, with teachers refusing to do any unpaid work beyond the 35 hours a week mandated by law.

While in Spain, teachers' unions have been protesting conditions in state schools.

Teachers in Madrid plan a strike on 14 October to press demands including a reduction in hours, smaller class ‌sizes and higher salaries.