About 100 French schools damaged as student protests spread

High school students and riot police clashed in cities across France on Oct. 2, 2026, as protests over classroom conditions and funding disrupted more than 560 educational establishments and damaged about 100 schools, according to reports from Al Jazeera and France 24.¹²

Closures and damage

Al Jazeera reported that the demonstrations began around Paris before spreading across France, with students blockading schools, setting fires in streets and confronting police. Citing the Ministry of National Education, it said at least 400 of the country’s 3,700 high schools were closed and 560 had reported protests or other disruption.¹

France 24 separately reported that closures or disruption affected more than 560 establishments and that about 100 schools were damaged. Al Jazeera put the number of high schools with severe damage at more than 100.¹²

Al Jazeera reported that fires damaged entrances at the Leonard de Vinci high school in southern Paris and the Gaston-Bachelard high school in the city’s southeast. Firefighters were called to put out the blazes.¹

Classroom grievances

The students were protesting over large classes, absent teachers and education funding, according to the reports. In Pantin, a suburb of Paris, 15-year-old Kesia described crowded rooms and a shortage of seating: “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”.¹²

Al Jazeera said police used tear gas in Pantin. In Rennes, 16-year-old Lola accused officers of using force against demonstrators outside Jean-Mace high school, saying: “It makes us even angrier – the police have no right to hit us or use tear gas on us”.¹

Detentions and injuries

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said approximately 2,000 people had been detained, with children accounting for the vast majority, according to Al Jazeera. Education Minister Edouard Geffray reported that at least 170 students and 65 members of school staff had been wounded; the staff figure included 40 principals.¹

Amnesty International said reported footage of police assaults on students was “extremely alarming” and stressed that many of those involved were minors. The rights organisation said: “Many are minors, children. They should be kept safe rather than struck with batons.”¹

Government response and political dispute

Geffray planned to meet education unions and student associations in an effort to open talks. “What matters now is ensuring our children are no longer out on the streets, because they are in danger,” he said. Darmanin argued that parents should bear responsibility for damage caused by their children and should cover repair costs.¹

The government accused the hard-left France Unbowed party of taking control of the protest movement, according to Al Jazeera. Manuel Bompard, a senior party official, rejected that accusation as a “conspiracy theory”.¹

Al Jazeera reported that the school protests took place alongside a public-sector walkout over the government’s proposed budget. France 24 described President Emmanuel Macron’s government as trying to contain the increasingly violent protests.¹²