Education
France's student protests over school conditions meet heavy police response
October 16, 2026 at 01:01 AM · Updated 17h ago
Coverage
4 reports · 1 in Arabic, 3 in English · over 14 hours
TGThe Guardian
French police accused over war-like injuries to teenagers in school protests
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BNBBC News
Are student protests being manipulated ahead of France's presidential election?
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AJAl Jazeera English
French football body urges fans and students to keep politics out of stadiums
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AJAl Jazeera Arabic
بتر يد وتحطيم فك.. كيف واجهت فرنسا احتجاجات تلاميذها؟
(opens the publisher’s site)French students protesting school funding have clashed with police for weeks, prompting mass arrests, serious injuries and accusations of political manipulation.
- Students have barricaded high schools and taken to the streets for over three weeks since September 21, demanding more teachers, smaller classes and better buildings.
- A 15-year-old lost a hand and a 14-year-old suffered a shattered jaw from police grenades; the interior minister suspended stun grenades at school demonstrations.
- More than 6,600 arrests have been made nationwide, and police have opened 36 internal investigations into misconduct allegations.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said hard-left France Insoumise members were "instrumentalising" the high-school movement for electoral advantage ahead of next year's presidential vote.
- Police have detained over 6,700 minors since mid-September, up from the earlier nationwide figure of 6,600 arrests.
- Lawyers and rights groups say four children were mutilated by explosive police weapons among 36 violence investigations.
- Lawyers raised concerns about unfounded arrests and racist or humiliating treatment of detained students during the protests.