From classroom to the streets: Why France's students are protesting?

For weeks, a student movement has been building across France. On October 6, it took on a distinctly national character. Schools were shut, roads blocked and clashes broke out between protesters and police in several parts of the country. What began as a series of local protests has now grown into one of France’s biggest student movements in decades.

At the centre of the anger is a familiar problem: students say the public education system is struggling to provide even the basics. There are not enough teachers, classrooms are overcrowded, school buildings are deteriorating and public investment is not keeping pace with the needs of the system.

A protest that has moved beyond students

The October 6 demonstrations were not confined to students. Teachers, parents and members of several trade unions also joined the protests. Official figures put the nationwide turnout at more than 266,000, including around 56,000 people in Paris. Trade unions claimed the actual number was higher.

Large demonstrations were reported in cities including Marseille and Strasbourg. In several hundred schools, students either blocked entrances or prevented classes from taking place.

But the movement did not begin on this scale.

From a suburban school to a national movement

The first protests emerged in mid-September at a school in a poorer northern suburb of Paris, where students rallied in support of striking teachers. Students from other schools soon joined them.

Much of the early momentum came from schools in some of the capital’s more deprived suburbs. Students there say the gap between their schools and those in wealthier areas is hard to ignore. They point to shortages of teachers, inadequate facilities and a lack of basic resources.

For some, the problems have become part of everyday school life.

A 17-year-old student told the media that students at their school had been preparing for French-language examinations without enough teachers. Others said some classrooms had as many as 40 students. In some buildings, water reportedly leaks through the ceilings. Elsewhere, deteriorating walls and buildings have become a regular concern. And when teachers are absent, classes may simply not take place.

More than a shortage of teachers

The grievances go beyond staffing and infrastructure.

Students have also raised concerns about long school hours, uncomfortable classrooms during periods of extreme heat, staff shortages, the complexity of university admissions and inadequate financial support for students from low-income families.

The heat has added another layer to the problem. During particularly hot periods in May and June, temperatures inside some classrooms rose to levels that made studying and taking examinations difficult.

For students, these are not abstract questions about education policy. They are problems they encounter every day when they walk into school.

A system struggling with a teacher shortage

The shortage of teachers has been a problem in France for years. Various reports have found that in the 2024–25 academic year, nearly 10% of teaching hours in public secondary schools effectively went undelivered. A major reason was the difficulty of finding replacement teachers when staff were absent.

The imbalance has also grown over time. Compared with 2008, the number of teachers in secondary schools has fallen even as the student population has increased by around 250,000.

According to CNN, more than 30 students are now in around 70% of classrooms in public schools.

That helps explain why the students’ central demand is relatively straightforward: they want to be able to go to school and study under normal conditions.

When the protest meets the police

As the demonstrations have grown, so too has the confrontation with police.

Police have used tear gas during clashes. In some places, protesters have set fires, built barricades and thrown fireworks towards police. The government has described such incidents as “urban violence”.

Protesters and their supporters, however, have accused the police of using disproportionate force.

The violence has come at a heavy cost. According to figures released by French authorities on October 6, more than 930 people had been injured since the movement began. The figure included 715 police officers and more than 200 teenagers.

One student reportedly lost a hand after picking up a crowd-control grenade during a protest. Another reportedly suffered the loss of vision in one eye.

The number of people detained has also risen sharply. CNN reported that more than 5,000 people had been taken into custody over the previous few weeks. Many were minors and had no previous criminal record.

What is the government offering?

The government has drawn a line between the students’ demands and the violence accompanying some of the protests.

Officials have acknowledged that many of the students’ concerns are legitimate, but have said that attacks on police or the setting of schools on fire cannot be accepted. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has condemned the violent incidents.

At the same time, the government has said schools will create forums for internal discussions where students can raise their concerns. It has also promised action on teacher shortages, school infrastructure and school schedules.

Whether those measures will be enough to calm the movement remains an open question.

The economic problem behind the education crisis

There is also a larger constraint hanging over the debate: France’s finances.

The country’s public debt has crossed $4 trillion and is now larger than its overall economic output. The cost of servicing that debt is rising. At the same time, an ageing population is increasing pressure on pension spending, while defence expenditure is also growing.

That leaves the government with limited room to make large new commitments to education.

For students, however, the budgetary constraints do not change the reality they see inside their classrooms. Their argument is that investment in education cannot simply be postponed when the problems are already affecting their education.

A protest with political consequences

The movement is also unfolding at a politically sensitive moment. France is due to hold a presidential election next year, and the protests have already become part of a wider debate about the country’s political direction.

There are concerns about declining confidence among young people in the centrist political forces that have dominated French politics for years. At the same time, both right-wing and left-wing groups are seeking to connect themselves with the anger on the streets.

For now, however, the students’ demands remain focused largely on their immediate experience of education.

Echoes of 1968, but a different France

France has a long history of student protest. The demonstrations of 1968 eventually grew into one of the country’s biggest general strikes and left a lasting mark on French politics.

It would be premature to suggest that the current movement will follow the same path. The political and social circumstances are very different.

But there is a striking similarity: young people once again find themselves questioning what kind of future awaits them.

And their demands are, in many ways, basic ones. They want teachers in their classrooms. They want safe and functional school buildings. They do not want to sit examinations in unbearable heat. And they do not want a student’s financial background to determine the quality of education they receive.

For a movement that began with complaints about missing teachers and broken classrooms, that has become a much bigger question: what does France owe its young people when it talks about their future?