Nationwide French student protests over school conditions draw mass arrests and police scrutiny

France's largest school protest movement in decades has drawn hundreds of thousands of students, hundreds of blocked schools and thousands of arrests.

• Students at hundreds of schools across France have protested since September over dilapidated buildings, staff shortages and overcrowded classes.
• The interior ministry recorded nearly 7,000 detentions, more than 85% of them minors, after police were banned from using stun grenades at school protests.
• Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu conceded students had "legitimate" concerns and promised 3,000 extra supply teachers, with a response plan due by the end of October.
• The Créteil prosecutor opened an investigation into alleged racial insults by police, while 24 inquiries were assigned to the police inspectorate over detention injuries.
• Education Minister Edouard Geffray said distribution of the 3,000 promised substitute teachers has begun and will continue until next Tuesday.
• Student unions, insisting on a non-negotiable €10 billion for urgent measures, called for a new protest day on October 13.
• Prime Minister Lecornu pledged amendments to the 2027 budget draft to fund some of the students' demands.
• The movement entered its fourth week and spread beyond the Créteil lycée to Paris suburbs and cities including Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux.
• More than 200 students have been injured in the protests, which began in mid-September at a Créteil lycée over teacher shortages.
• Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez suspended police use of sound grenades on October 7 pending investigations.