Student Protests in France Disrupt Hundreds of Secondary Schools
Usagevpn.com – Student protests in France are expected to disrupt education again on Monday, with between 400 and 500 secondary schools fully or partly unable to operate normally. The Education Ministry said lessons would be suspended wherever conditions could not guarantee the safety of pupils and staff.
The expected level of disruption is broadly similar to Friday, when between 400 and 500 classes were suspended. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said some schools may nevertheless be able to resume part of their usual timetable gradually.
“There will probably be just as many on Monday, but with a gradual, partial resumption of classes,” Geffray said.
Damage, injuries and arrests during the unrest
The demonstrations have affected 735 schools since the movement began. According to Geffray, 24 education sites have been burned or ransacked, while 78 Education Ministry staff members have been injured.
Reports from the protests have included rubbish-bin fires, thrown objects and damage to school buildings and street furniture. The Interior Ministry said nearly 5,000 arrests had been made since Monday in connection with the unrest.
Police have dispersed some gatherings using tear gas, batons, rubber bullets and defensive ball launchers, known in France as LBDs. The use of those measures and the strengthened police presence near schools have become central points of dispute during the student protests in France.
Government rejects claims of excessive policing
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Sunday that security forces were not acting disproportionately. He argued that police were protecting young people who wished to demonstrate and express their concerns peacefully.
“The police do not repress young people,” Nuñez said, adding that officers protect those seeking to advance their demands without violence.
Nuñez said authorities would respond firmly to violence, destruction and other offences. He also rejected accusations that police were deliberately targeting racialised young people from working-class neighbourhoods, describing that interpretation as disconnected from reality.
Teachers’ unions have criticised a response they believe places too much emphasis on security measures. They have called for greater attention to the underlying concerns being voiced by pupils and school communities.
A local school dispute becomes a nationwide movement
The movement began two weeks earlier at Saint-Exupéry secondary school in Créteil, southeast of Paris. Students initially rallied in support of striking teachers who had raised concerns about staffing shortages and insufficient resources.
The demonstrations then expanded across the country. Students have pointed to unsafe or unsanitary buildings, overcrowded classrooms, difficult schedules and shortages of staff. A repeated concern is that absent teachers are not always replaced, leaving pupils without planned lessons.
Some participants have also criticised the ban on mobile phones in schools. Although it is only one issue among several, it has become part of a broader complaint that students are not sufficiently heard on decisions shaping their daily school lives.
Geffray met student representatives on Friday. They said the meeting did not result in concrete measures and called for continued mobilisation the following week.
Teachers back further action on Tuesday
The student protests in France have already included nationwide mobilisation days on 29 September and 1 October. Organisers are preparing a third day of action on Tuesday, raising the prospect of further disruption if participation remains high.
All teachers’ unions announced on Sunday that they would support the pupils’ planned action. The unions said the students’ demands were legitimate and reflected their own long-standing warnings about inadequate resources in education.
“Their demands are legitimate, and we support them all the more because they are at the heart of our own mobilisations denouncing the lack of resources for several years now,” the unions said.
FAQ: What families should know
Will every French school be closed on Monday? No. The Education Ministry expects between 400 and 500 secondary schools to be fully or partly affected. Whether a particular school can hold lessons depends on local safety conditions.
Why are students protesting? Protesters have cited staff shortages, overcrowding, building conditions, missed lessons when teachers are absent and concerns about how decisions are made in schools.
Could disruption continue later in the week? Further action is planned for Tuesday, with teachers’ unions backing the student mobilisation. Families should follow information provided by their own school for updates on classes and access to the site.
