Police fire tear gas at a barricaded high school in Paris as school
protests show no sign of ending
[October 08, 2026]
By JADE LE DELEY and LORNE COOK
PARIS (AP) — Dozens of students dragged rubbish bins into position
outside a high school in northeastern Paris early on Thursday, erecting
fresh barricades before police moved in with tear gas as France’s
nationwide protests show few signs of ending.
The Helene Boucher Lycee has been a flashpoint for clashes in the French
capital, and is one of hundreds of schools disrupted by protesters
Thursday.
At least a dozen demonstrations in support of the high school students'
movement are planned around France later in the day.
Riot police gathered in side streets as students converged on the
school. Many protesters wore surgical masks or hoodies, apparently
afraid to be recognized.
Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September, when
students, most of them under 18, started protesting to demand more
education funding, according to the Interior Ministry. The Education
Ministry said that 375 schools were either fully or partially closed on
Thursday.
Pressure mounts on an embattled administration
While the number of school closures was down compared to Tuesday,
pressure is mounting on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel
Macron.
The protests against the under-funding of schools — many of them
struggling with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff — have
drawn troublemakers not concerned about the aims of the protest movement
as well as unions and political groups.
In a TV address, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu lamented the
“violence, students and staff being attacked, police officers and
gendarmes injured, schools set on fire or vandalized, thousands of hours
of classes lost, not to mention threats and insults.”
He took aim at “political leaders who use this anger to conduct their
electoral battles." France goes to the polls for a presidential election
in April. “We cannot play with the safety of France’s youth,” Lecornu
said.
At the Lycee, 18-year-old university student Emma Khelil came to offer
support to those at the barricades at her former high school. She told
The Associated Press that she’s really concerned about police violence.
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“We’re here to defend our rights, not to lose an eye or a hand,” Khelil
said. She also said that she had noticed insulation problems and water
leaks in the school building and had even seen rats on occasion. Other
students confirmed that they’d seen rats too.
She was not convinced by Lecornu’s efforts to calm the situation.
“I don’t think the movement is going to lose momentum. As long as things
don’t change, we’re going to see the movement grow stronger, and
potentially a convergence of struggles, especially with the next
presidential election coming up,” she said.
Not long after she spoke, police surrounded a nearby square. The crowd
surged, and tear gas was fired.
The protest movement crosses borders
The impact of France's protests is also being felt north of the border,
in Belgium.
Liege Mayor Willy Demeyer issued a ban on public gatherings until
midnight on Oct. 16, given what he described as the “real, serious and
imminent risk” of repeated clashes and vandalism that authorities
expected in coming days.
City police said they used water cannon and tear gas on Wednesday to
keep several hundred protesters at bay. Authorities sent emergency
mobile text messages warning shopkeepers to close their premises due to
rioting.
Almost 90 people were arrested and several police were injured. Police
reinforcements were sent from the capital Brussels and from Antwerp, and
more are coming. Smaller protests have been held in Mons and Charleroi.
In a post on social media, Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin
said the “perpetrators will have to answer for their actions before the
courts.”
The Belgian protests, organized through social media chat groups,
include demands for more teachers and smaller classes as well as
complaints about education reform in Belgium, but are also likely
inspired by events in France.
___
Cook reported from Brussels. Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed to
this report.
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