Student protests and public sector strikes escalate across France

A wave of student-led protests and public sector strikes has spread across France since late September 2026, driven by grievances over school conditions, insufficient staffing, and austerity measures proposed in the 2027 government budget. The movement began on September 21 at the Saint-Exupéry high school and expanded nationwide, with 356 schools affected by Wednesday. Tensions surged on Thursday, October 1, when authorities reported nearly 2,000 detentions, 1,793 arrests, and 305 injured police officers. Clashes have turned violent, featuring the burning of trash bins, assaults on school directors, and a widely condemned attack on a female police officer near Paris.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu held an emergency crisis meeting to address the unrest, which the government has attributed to agitators from the radical left. Minister of Education Édouard Geoffroy announced that approximately 400 schools remain closed with remote learning in place, as the total number of injuries since the protests began reached 76 among staff and students, with separate police reports indicating even higher casualty counts. The situation remains highly volatile as the government prepares for presidential elections scheduled for next year, with the opposition, including Marine Le Pen, demanding severe punishments for the perpetrators of the violence.