Between 400 and 500 secondary schools in France were expected to suspend classes fully or partially on Monday as pupil protests over school conditions continued. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez rejected claims that security forces were targeting “racialised young people from working-class neighbourhoods”. He called the claims a “blaming narrative totally disconnected from the real world”.
The protests have led to nearly 5,000 arrests since Monday, according to the Interior Ministry. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, defensive ball launchers (LBDs) and batons to disperse some demonstrators. Rubbish bins and other objects were set on fire; protesters threw projectiles at security forces, and damaged school buildings and street furniture.
School closures and demands
The Ministry of Education said it would suspend classes “totally or partially” where security conditions “are not met”. Education Minister Édouard Geffray told France 2 and France Inter there had been “between 400 and 500 suspended classes” on Friday. “There will probably be just as many on Monday, but with a gradual, partial resumption of classes,” he said.
Of the 735 schools affected by the protests, 24 had been “set on fire or ransacked”, Geffray said. He also reported that “78 staff members” from the Ministry of Education had been injured “since the start of the events”.
The movement began at Saint-Exupéry secondary school in Créteil, in the Paris suburbs, where pupils supported striking teachers who denounced a lack of staff and resources. Pupils have cited unsafe and insanitary buildings, overcrowded classes, difficult timetables, staff shortages and teacher absences that weren't systematically covered. Some have also opposed the ban on mobile phones in schools.
After meeting pupil representatives on Friday morning, Geffray offered no “concrete measures”, the representatives said. They called for protests to continue. A third nationwide mobilisation, described as “act III”, was planned for Tuesday, following protest days on 29 September and 1 October.
Policing and reported injuries
Nuñez defended the security forces’ actions on Sunday and rejected claims that their response was “disproportionate”. “The police do not repress young people,” he said, but “protect” pupils and students who want to “advance their demands peacefully”. He warned police would intervene “firmly and without delay” to stop “damage, violence [and] abuses” by troublemakers.
Several serious incidents have also been reported. In Tours, central France, a young man injured in clashes between pupils and police on Wednesday lost sight in his right eye, the local prosecutor said. In La Ciotat, Provence, a 59-year-old teacher was doused in petrol and beaten during a pupil demonstration. Police arrested a 16-year-old boy suspected of carrying out the attack in Marseille on Sunday morning and took him into custody.
In Belfort, eastern France, a group of young people chased, beat and repeatedly kicked a police officer. Police took two people into custody after the attack.
Teachers join the mobilisation
All teachers’ unions said Sunday they would join the pupils’ protest. In a press release, they said: “Their demands are legitimate, and we support them all the more because they are at the heart of our own mobilisations denouncing the lack of resources.” The unions said the government response had been limited to security-force intervention. They added: “Reports from pupils who have been injured, assaulted and threatened are increasing by the day. This is unacceptable.”
Le Parisien reported that the government intended to bring forward the timetable for the “casseurs-payeurs” bill, in response to damage around schools and in public spaces. The bill aims to make people who take part in violent gatherings contribute to repair costs, even when they aren't directly responsible for the damage. The Senate was due to examine it at the end of October.