French police have taken nearly 7,000 people into custody since mid-September, as students protest teacher shortages, overcrowded timetables and deteriorating school buildings. The Justice Ministry said 86% of those detained were minors. On Friday, with demonstrations in their fifth consecutive day, the United Nations said it was following events “with concern.”
Schools under pressure
The Education Ministry said 141 of France’s 3,700 high schools were closed Friday. Most protesters are aged 15 to 18. They’ve raised concerns about long school days, teacher absences, overcrowding and buildings ill-equipped for rising temperatures.
Demonstrations have been largely peaceful. Some protesters, though, set fires and vandalised bus shelters. Police used tear gas, batons and blast balls. Human rights groups and student protesters accused officers of excessive force, while authorities opened 18 internal investigations into alleged police misconduct.
Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN human rights agency, said: “We are following with concern incidents related to the student protests and high school blockades in France, some of which have turned violent.”
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said around 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed in the coming days to cover shortages at the 114 high schools most affected by protests. After meeting three major student groups Thursday, Édouard Geffray also announced measures that include sending more than 3,000 substitute teachers without current assignments to schools and hiring hundreds of additional staff.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pledged a plan addressing the crisis by the end of October. Economy Minister Roland Lescure said the government could meet demands for additional school funding despite tight constraints on the 2027 budget. Under the current draft, education is set to receive the second-largest funding increase after defence: spending would rise 1.4% to €90.9 billion.
Student union representative Marius Mesnil said, “we're being offered a few crumbs,” and called for another wave of demonstrations Tuesday. Thousands of students had taken to the streets again the previous day. Images showed Paris’s Place de la Bastille packed with demonstrators. By evening, reports described clashes with police.
Budget pressure and public spending
France’s worsening economic outlook and deepening sovereign debt crisis have shaken investor confidence and raised fears of a broader financial crisis. The country’s 10-year yield reached 4.96% Thursday, its highest since July 2002, while the already-high deficit was projected to rise next year.
EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis urged France to pass a budget to calm bond markets. After a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers 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.”
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde declined to comment specifically on France when asked about sovereign spreads in Luxembourg. She said the ECB had instruments to counter disorderly market dynamics. Bank of France chief Emmanuel Moulin said earlier that week that intervention wasn’t needed in the “current conditions.”
Protest beyond the schools
The protests revived 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.
France Unbowed MEP Rima Hassan defended removing an Israeli flag from an October 7 commemoration at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Photographs showing the Israeli flag on the floor alongside the EU flag prompted backlash and allegations of antisemitism against Hassan.
Hassan said she reviewed CCTV footage with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. She said it showed her “rather softly, taking the Israeli flag down from its stand.” She denied intentionally knocking down the EU flag and said neither flag was “trampled on, thrown about or damaged.” Asked whether she regretted how she expressed her views, she said: “Sometimes, a political mandate can be accompanied by an activist gesture, a symbolic gesture.”