Student unrest surged across France on Friday, with riot police confronting teenagers in multiple cities as about 400 high schools remained closed. Authorities said nearly 2,000 people had been detained since the demonstrations began, while government officials increasingly accused the country’s far-left opposition of helping drive the escalation.
In Strasbourg, protesters faced clouds of tear gas; in Marseille, fireworks were launched toward police lines; and in Rennes, burning rubbish bins filled the streets. Clashes were also reported in Paris, Reuters reported Friday. The violence represents a significant intensification of the unrest reported Thursday by News Media, when school blockades and confrontations had already led to hundreds of arrests nationwide.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said in an interview with RTL that roughly 2,000 people had been arrested since the protests started, with teenagers accounting for most of those detained. According to Reuters, Darmanin also argued that parents should be financially responsible when their children cause property damage.
“Children are putting themselves in danger in the streets,” Education Minister Édouard Geffray said during an appearance on BFM TV.
A student adds fuel to a burning barricade during a blockade outside Le Corbusier secondary school in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, on October 1, 2026. Since the end of September, students have demonstrated over concerns including school schedules, crowded classrooms, teacher shortages and overheated rooms during this year’s heatwaves. The movement began in the Paris region before spreading to cities across France. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / AFP via Getty Images)
Euronews reported Friday that at least 65 education workers, including 40 school principals, have been injured since the unrest began. About 170 students have also been hurt, while more than 100 high schools sustained what Geffray called “severe damage.”
The demonstrations initially focused on overcrowded classes, insufficient teaching staff, lengthy school days and deteriorating buildings. Students say years of inadequate funding have left schools struggling, even as the government presented its proposed 2027 budget on Thursday. The plan would increase education funding by 1.7% to 65.53 billion euros, excluding teacher pensions—an increase that Reuters said remains below inflation.
As the confrontations have intensified, however, the school protests have become the center of a wider political battle.
French intelligence officials told a government crisis meeting Thursday that lawmakers and activists from the hard-left France Unbowed party, or LFI, had helped initiate the protest movement, Reuters reported Friday.
Students confront police during a protest in Lyon, central-eastern France, on October 1, 2026. Demonstrations that began in late September have centered on complaints about school timetables, class sizes, staff shortages and classrooms made dangerously hot by this year’s heatwaves. What started in the Paris region has since expanded across the country. (Alex Martin AFP via Getty Images)
LFI lawmakers dismissed the intelligence assessment and accused President Emmanuel Macron’s administration of turning a student-led movement into a political target ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Le Monde reported Friday that Geffray said LFI had helped ignite the first demonstrations before claiming the movement was later “taken hostage by ultra-left groups.” LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has rejected any responsibility for the violence.
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ senior envoy to Europe, told News Media Thursday that the protests began with credible complaints but have since developed into a much broader and more dangerous crisis.
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“The concerns about absent teachers and schools falling into disrepair were genuine,” Rodan-Benzaquen said. “But covering a principal with gasoline and attacking firefighters are examples of extreme violence. The political significance lies in the attempt to transform anger over education into a wider clash with the government.”
Protesters set fire to rubbish bins and plastic containers near a school in Pantin, a suburb northeast of Paris, after students blocked the entrance to Berthelot High School. Riot police responded with tear gas as protesters threw firecrackers on October 2, 2026. (Reuters)
The unrest is rapidly emerging as a central issue in the race to replace Macron next May. Mélenchon has condemned the government’s response as authoritarian, while Rodan-Benzaquen said LFI had “actively supported the mobilization.” She pointed to activists sharing confrontation videos, party accounts promoting the footage and elected officials positioning themselves as allies of the students.
“With a presidential election only a year away, Mélenchon views these demonstrations as a way to strengthen support among young voters and push the moderate left to the margins,” she said. “Against the backdrop of serious political, geopolitical and economic pressures, this is an extremely dangerous moment for France.”
Marine Le Pen likewise accused LFI of being directly involved. “This is no longer a high school protest,” Le Pen wrote in a translated post on X. “These are riots organized by professionals and directed by representatives of La France Insoumise.” She called for a new law making participation in a riot a clearly defined criminal offense.
Students assemble outside Lycée Voltaire in Paris during nationwide demonstrations calling for more substitute teachers, greater funding and improved learning conditions. More than 400 high schools remained closed on October 2, 2026, after several days of protests that turned violent in some areas. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)
As authorities struggle to restore order, the government has sent specialized riot units and mobile gendarmes to the affected areas, Le Monde reported.
The government’s response is also drawing scrutiny. Students and rights groups have accused police of excessive force against minors, including the use of batons, tear gas and non-lethal weapons. Amnesty International warned against excessive force, while France’s Interior Ministry said Friday that three investigations into alleged police violence had been opened, according to Reuters.
The unrest may also be beginning to spread beyond France. Students in Liège, Belgium, began demonstrating Thursday, and high schools there were closed Friday.
Masked protesters install a barricade amid clashes with police during a protest by high school students near the Lycee Berthelot high school in Aubervilliers near Paris as part of nationwide protests to demand the hiring of substitute teachers, increased resources and better learning conditions, as more than 400 schools remain closed following days of student protests that have escalated into violence in some places, France, October 2, 2026. The slogan on the placard reads “Same studies, but not the same rights.” (Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)
News Media reached out to the French government, the Education Ministry, the Interior Ministry and La France Insoumise for comment but did not receive responses in time for publication.
Tyler Speicher and Reuters contributed to this story.