On Friday, the United Nations human rights agency said it was following French high-school protests “with concern” as demonstrations entered their fifth straight day. “We are following with concern incidents related to the student protests and high school blockades in France, some of which have turned violent,” agency spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said.
The figures behind that statement are stark. France’s Education Ministry reported that 141 of the country’s 3,700 high schools were closed Friday. The Justice Ministry said nearly 7,000 people have entered police custody since mid-September. Eighty-six percent were minors.
Human Impact
The students, most of them aged 15 to 18, say their demands are concrete: more teachers, less crowded timetables, better school facilities and buildings that can handle rising temperatures. These aren’t abstract grievances. They describe a school day in a system stretched past its limits.
Most demonstrations stayed peaceful. Some protesters set fires and vandalised bus shelters. Police used tear gas, batons and blast balls, drawing accusations of excessive force from human rights groups and the protesters themselves. Authorities have opened 18 internal investigations into alleged police misconduct.
Euronews France correspondent Estelle Nilsson-Julien reported from Paris that tensions ran high. Protesters remained angry, she said, at what they viewed as the government’s failure to act decisively, even after authorities changed course following an initial response criticised as heavy-handed. Images from the day before showed demonstrators filling Paris’s Place de la Bastille, where clashes with police were reported by evening.
The Government Response
Late Thursday, Education Minister Edouard Geffray announced that around 3,000 substitute teachers would arrive in the coming days to cover shortages at the 114 high schools hit hardest. He had met three major student groups that afternoon. The measures also include hundreds of additional staff. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised a plan to address the crisis by the end of October.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure said the government could meet demands for more school funding despite tight constraints on the 2027 budget. Under the current draft, education will receive the second-largest funding increase after defence, with spending rising 1.4% to €90.9 billion.
Student union representative Marius Mesnil wasn’t convinced. “We’re being offered a few crumbs,” he said, calling for another wave of demonstrations Tuesday.
A Budget Under Market Pressure
France’s finances are also under strain. The country’s 10-year yield hit 4.96% Thursday, its highest level since July 2002, while the already-high deficit was projected to rise next year. The sovereign debt crisis has rattled investor confidence and fuelled fears of a wider financial crisis.
On Thursday, EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis urged France to pass a budget to calm bond markets. After Eurogroup finance ministers met in Luxembourg, he said: “Putting in place a sound budget for the next year will be important to ensure this predictability and credibility and to reassure markets. I’m in contact with (French Finance) Minister (Roland) Lescure on this.”
People familiar with the discussions said European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was asked about sovereign spreads. She declined to comment specifically on France, saying the ECB had the instruments to counter disorderly market dynamics. Bank of France chief Emmanuel Moulin had said earlier in the week that ECB intervention wasn’t needed in the “current conditions.”
The protests’ intensity has brought back memories of the Yellow Vests movement. Leaders on both the far-left and far-right were seeking to capitalise on public discontent, the report said.
Strasbourg Flag Row
A separate dispute at the European Parliament added to tensions this week. France Unbowed MEP Rima Hassan defended removing an Israeli flag from an October 7 commemoration in Strasbourg, describing the act in an interview with Euronews as a protest against the Israeli state. Photographs showing the flag on the floor alongside the EU flag prompted widespread backlash and allegations of antisemitism against her.
Hassan said she reviewed CCTV footage with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. It showed her, she said, “rather softly, taking the Israeli flag down from its stand.” She denied deliberately knocking down the EU flag and said neither flag was “trampled on, thrown about or damaged.” Asked if she regretted how she expressed her views, she replied: “Sometimes, a political mandate can be accompanied by an activist gesture, a symbolic gesture.” She added: “I maintain my absolute opposition to the Israeli embassy being invited to the European Parliament, just as the Russian embassy is strictly prohibited from organising or co-organising events, from addressing the Parliament, or from having a platform there.”
Why This Matters:
The protests put two demands on the French government at once: young people want schools that function, while bond markets demand fiscal discipline. When 86% of those detained are minors and the UN voices concern, policing becomes an issue of democratic accountability, not merely public order. The 18 internal investigations will test whether authorities take excessive-force complaints seriously. The budget debate shows how tight constraints can clash with unmet needs in education. The government has promised 3,000 substitute teachers and a plan by the end of October. Whether that satisfies students calling the offer crumbs—and markets watching the 2027 deficit—will shape the weeks ahead.