French riot police fire tear gas as more than 250,000 rally nationwide
for school funding
[October 07, 2026]
By NICOLAS GARRIGA and OLEG CETINIC
PARIS (AP) — Police fired tear gas to control crowds in Paris and
elsewhere in France on Tuesday as more than a quarter of a million
people rallied nationwide to support high school students demanding more
education funding, according to government figures. The protests
increased pressure on the administration of outgoing President Emmanuel
Macron.
As pupils blockaded high schools, large crowds waving flags and placards
gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities. The demonstrations
showed how protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in
mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement — the latest of many
that have marked Macron’s nearly decade-long tenure.
“We need to listen to them,” said Léa Monimart, an adult demonstrator in
the northern city of Lille. “They are 17 years old; they are not
completely clueless, and they know what they are talking about. It’s
important to show that there are adults who support them.”
The Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in
demonstrations across the country on Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris,
where small groups of protesters clashed with riot officers at a city
square at the end of a largely peaceful march.
Nearly 500 people were detained Tuesday, the ministry said. The
widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against
teenagers is fueling defiance and angering some parents and teachers.
Some student groups called for new protests Thursday.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the police response had been
proportionate in “almost all cases” and that the protests had at times
turned into riots, requiring police intervention.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government and school
leaders must listen to students’ concerns and find solutions.
Questioned in parliament on Tuesday about the protest movement, Lecornu
denounced “ultra violence” threatening schools. Responding to criticism
of police tactics, he pledged that any “accidents” would be investigated
and described allegations that the police are racist as a “lie.”
Class boycotts with police making thousands of arrests
More than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades, and policing
that has led to more than 6,500 arrests, mostly of minors, have become a
flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign.
Felix Barney, a university student, described the police response as
disproportionate, saying it doesn't make “any sense to hit minors.”
“Riot police, batons, rubber bullets, tear gas,” said Aurélien Le Coq, a
lawmaker with the far-left France Unbowed party. Its presidential
candidate is strongly backing the protests.
The violence is “absolutely unbearable,” Le Coq said.
Nuñez defended police tactics despite a growing number of severe
injuries blamed on officers’ riot-control weapons. In the latest case, a
15-year-old boy lost a hand Monday in an incident involving a police
stun grenade. He said 715 officers had been injured.
The teenage protesters have struck a chord amid widespread discontent in
France. Frustrations extend beyond immediate difficulties, such as fuel
prices that have soared because of the Iran war, to broader concerns
about constraints on public spending, rising poverty and wealth
inequality under Macron, who can't run for a third consecutive term.
Against that backdrop, pupils’ complaints that education funding
shortfalls are endangering their futures have found a sympathetic
audience.
“You say ‘young people are the future,’ so listen to them,” read a
handwritten placard attached to a metal barrier outside a Paris school.
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A protesters kicks a teargas canister during scuffles following a
demonstration against under-resourced schools, in Paris, Tuesday,
Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Teresa Suarez)
Ministry offers online portal for complaints
At the Hélène Boucher lycée, or high school, in Paris' 20th
district, protesters tipped over trash cans and bicycles onto their
sides to create a makeshift barricade.
Like hundreds of others around the country, the school was closed.
Authorities began shutting schools last week to take some steam out
of the demonstrations after widespread damage to schools and
mounting injuries among staff, students and police. Classes were
totally or partially suspended on Tuesday at 891 schools, according
to the Education Ministry.
Facing accusations that it was ignoring protesters, the ministry
launched an online portal inviting high school students to
anonymously describe the difficulties they face at school and the
changes they want to see.
Student protests have drawn attention to rundown classrooms
At Hélène Boucher, parents and other adults positioned themselves on
Tuesday between protesters and police keeping watch.
“They are our children. Teachers, parents, federations, we all share
the same goal: the protection of children’s rights, and it is a
legitimate right to demonstrate and to make demands,” said Emilia
Sichili Suriam, who is a member of an association of parents.
Demonstrators have voiced a range of grievances, often centering on
a lack of resources and opportunities for students in disadvantaged
schools, despite the promise of France’s national motto: “Liberty,
Equality, Fraternity.”
Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics
such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air
conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats. Other
common complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads.
French high school students’ compulsory classroom hours are among
the highest in Europe.
Suzanne Nijdam, president of the federation of student associations,
vowed that demonstrations would continue until authorities address
the complaints.
“So, we really need to act now, and it’s in the government’s hands,
to see these demands through to the end,” she said. “It’s a matter
of political priority, a matter of prioritizing the youth and the
future of our country.”
Neighboring Belgium is also seeing student protests. More than 30
were arrested Tuesday and several police injured in the eastern city
of Liege, and smaller protests were held in Brussels and other
cities.
___
John Leicester, Mark Carlson and Sylvain Plazy in Lille, Jeffrey
Schaeffer, Masha Macpherson and Catherine Gaschka in Paris, Mike
Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Lorne Cook in Brussels
contributed to this report.
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