Up to 500 high schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday as nationwide student protests over dilapidated facilities, teacher absences, and overlong school days continue to grip the country. Education Minister Edouard Geffray announced Sunday that lessons would be totally or partly suspended in roughly 400 to 500 institutions because security conditions have not been fulfilled.
Growing Unrest and Facility Damage Across French Lycées
The student movement, which affects French high schools known as lycées where teenagers aged 15 to 18 complete their final years of education, began on September 17 at the Saint-Exupery high school in the Paris suburb of Creteil. What started as localized support for striking teachers has since metastasized into nationwide demonstrations. According to government figures, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked since the start of the movement.
Students have voiced a deep-seated frustration with systemic disparities. Many complain of excessive school days stretching from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., crumbling infrastructure, and chronic teacher shortages that leave classrooms empty for extended periods. Sociologist Valerie Becquet noted that high school students, particularly those hailing from low-income neighborhoods, increasingly feel they are receiving an inferior education compared to their peers in elite institutions.
Official Condemnation of Violence and Targeted Attacks
While the core of the student movement highlights legitimate academic grievances, the protests have frequently devolved into violent clashes between teenagers and security forces deploying tear gas and batons. Education Minister Edouard Geffray claimed that far-left activists have infiltrated and hijacked the demonstrations, driving extreme acts of violence.
Geffray revealed that 78 education staff members have been wounded in the unrest—a figure he described as something they had never seen before. He asserted that these employees of the national education system were deliberately targeted. Tensions further escalated following an incident in the southern town of La Ciotat, where a 59-year-old teacher was doused with petrol and struck on the sidelines of a protest. A 16-year-old was detained by authorities in connection with the attack.
Criticism has also been leveled against law enforcement for heavy-handed tactics. Over 5,000 people have been arrested since the movement began, with 85% of those detained being minors.
Social Media Amplification and Institutional Responses
The rapid spread of the movement is heavily tied to digital platforms, particularly TikTok, where graphic footage of burning rubbish cans, police interventions, and running street battles circulates widely. Sociologist Becquet observed that social media allows students to bypass traditional media channels and project a narrative different from the one presented in traditional media.
Despite the widespread disruption, localized grievances have occasionally found swift resolution. At the Saint-Exupery high school in Creteil where the protests originated, normalcy returned after educational authorities deployed a deputy principal and a nurse to address staffing shortages. However, with organizers calling for further demonstrations on Tuesday due to a perceived lack of concrete government measures, the wider national standoff remains unresolved.
