Because of a wave of student protests that has shaken the country, the Education Minister said, up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday (October 5, 2026).
The teenagers at French high schools, known as lycees, say that their studies are being ruined by high teacher absence rates, overlong school days and dilapidated facilities, as well as other grievances. Geffray claimed. The movement began at a Paris school on September 17 but grew last week into nationwide protests marked in places by outbursts of violence involving teenagers and security forces, which have used tear gas and truncheons against the students. He also called a meeting for Tuesday (October 6, 2026) with regional presidents to discuss overhauling the country’s often-dilapidated school buildings. A 16-year-old was detained on Sunday (October 4, 2026) over the assault of a teacher in the southern town of La Ciotat. The teacher, 59, was struck and doused with gasoline on the sidelines of a high school student protest on Friday (October 2, 2026).
“There are activists — particularly from the far-left — who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence,” Mr. But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that security forces “are not cracking down on young people” but rather “protecting” school and university students wishing to “peacefully voice their demands”.
