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Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu halts secondary school operations for the week amid widespread street blockades, arrests, and police clashes.
French authorities have suspended high school classes nationwide for the remainder of the week after demonstrations demanding educational reforms escalated into clashes between student protesters and riot police across several major cities.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced the national suspension on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, following estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 demonstrators took to the streets across Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Rennes.
Protests Mount Over Dilapidated Schools and Teacher Shortages
The wave of student-led civil unrest, which originated two weeks ago in Paris’s outer suburbs, stems from growing anger over under-resourced public schools, deteriorating campus buildings, and chronic shortages of qualified teaching staff.
Organizers report that nearly 2,000 secondary schools were blockaded or shut down by student unions on Tuesday as activists set up barricades, burned street objects, and carried placards reading “Survive or Study.”
“Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings,” Prime Minister Lecornu stated during his press address, explaining that the class suspension aims to allow school administrators, staff, and students to conduct internal discussions on reform proposals.
Security agencies reported deploying heavy CRS riot police to manage the crowds, using tear gas to disperse demonstrators who threw projectiles and set street fires in cities like Strasbourg, Lyon, and Rennes.
Escalating Casualties, Mass Arrests, and Broader Union Support
The government confirmed that over 6,100 arrests have been made since the onset of the protests, with more than 1,800 individuals—the majority under eighteen years old—facing formal prosecution.
Casualties continue to rise, with official figures reporting at least 215 teenagers and 715 police officers injured, including a high-profile incident in northern France where a 15-year-old student lost his hand after picking up an unexploded police tear gas grenade.
The student movement has gained momentum as major labor groups, including teachers’ unions, energy workers, and farmers’ organizations, joined the rallies to support the youth and protect students from excessive police force.
While the French government has directed ministers to submit detailed proposals on infrastructure repairs and administrative adjustments by the end of October, financial analysts point out that France’s current budget deficits present major hurdles to funding public service expansions.
