At least 215 teenagers and 85 education workers have been injured in France. Teachers back many student demands while facing threats from protesters and pressure from the Government.
Since late September, students have blocked entrances at hundreds of French lycées, turning school gates into flashpoints for a wider dispute over education.
About one hundred directors have been injured. Teachers and other education workers were also hurt during the protests. Official statements cited by Reuters put the broader toll at at least 215 injured teenagers and 85 injured education employees, making the unrest one of the most serious episodes of damage to the school system in decades. Clashes with police and violence inside or near schools have left teachers caught between support for student demands and fear of threats or physical attacks.
School leaders have been pushed into the middle of the confrontation.
Cyril Coupaud, who heads Parc des Loges secondary school in Évry-Courcouronnes, says aggressive protests and Government decisions have intensified the crisis instead of calming it.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported at least 215 injured teenagers and 85 injured education workers, describing the damage to the school system as the worst in several decades.
The damage goes well beyond blocked entrances or cancelled lessons. Images shared on social media have shown threats against school directors and teachers. Some education workers have suffered serious assaults.
The protesters have demanded more teachers. They have also called for lighter timetables and better-maintained buildings and classrooms.
One of the clearest examples involved Thierry Laurent, a Physics and Chemistry teacher. A student threw gasoline at him and kicked him. Other education officials were hurt by fireworks. Bystanders’ pushing caused further injuries during the demonstrations.
The disorder has not come from students alone. Virginie Aklioutat, the FSU secretary general in Marseille, says other young people have also taken part. That distinction separates the campaign over education from the wider violence surrounding parts of the protests.
France 24 reported that police used tear gas and water cannon after attacks involving stones and improvised fireworks. A lycée was ransacked in Bordeaux. A deputy head was assaulted in Marseille. An attack also targeted a police station in Bordeaux.
Inside schools, the political divide is harder to draw.
Natalia Ruiz, a Spanish teacher in Saint-Denis, supports the students’ actions and has tried to protect pupils from riot police. Ketty Valcke, a History and Geography teacher in Paris, says the students’ complaints overlap with concerns raised by teachers themselves.
According to the French Education Ministry, 24 of the 735 schools affected by the protests were set on fire or looted. The figure illustrates how the movement’s disruption extended beyond blockades and into serious damage to school property.
The complaints are specific. They focus on the university selection system and poor timetable organisation. Staff also point to a shortage of teachers and overcrowded classrooms. Those pressures give the protests support inside the education system, even as threats and attacks create fear among the people expected to keep schools open.
The Government tried to answer the mobilisation with a half-day devoted to educational democracy. Student blockades stopped the event from taking place. The move was poorly received, leaving ministers without a visible channel for addressing the grievances before the next test.
Safety failures forced authorities to suspend classes in as many as 400 to 500 schools. The closures covered full or partial shutdowns where basic safety conditions could not be guaranteed.
The number later fell. By 10 October 2026, around 140 of France’s 3,500 lycées were still fully or partially closed. Clashes and tear gas continued, while protesters kept demanding additional resources, according to the BBC and Euronews.
The Government also announced an emergency staffing response. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said about 3,000 substitute teachers would be sent to roughly 500 lycées facing the most acute shortages.
The plan targets the staffing problem at the heart of the mobilisation. It has not settled the dispute over schedules, classroom capacity or the condition of school buildings.
Mobilised sectors want more resources for public education and oppose cuts that could affect schools and staff. On 6 October, about 250,000 people took part in a nationwide action. Teachers and trade unions joined the protest, while students had already driven the school blockades. NPR reported that the groups pointed to chronic staff shortages and inadequate facilities.
More than 5,000 people were detained during the unrest. Around 87% were minors. Authorities also reported injuries among hundreds of police officers.
The announced strike and demonstrations are set to test Sébastien Lecornu’s Government and Emmanuel Macron as they respond to the social crisis. The pressure also fits a wider pattern in which public institutions absorb the effects of disputes they have failed to resolve. Earlier coverage examined a comparable escalation of political and social pressure in Spain.
The Government has sought to separate the students’ education demands from street violence. Interior Ministry accounts cited by France 24 said some participants joined disorder outside the original school actions. Tens of thousands of people were involved in that activity, according to the ministry’s account.
That position lets ministers condemn attacks while presenting the staffing response as an answer to legitimate grievances. The immediate pressure remains inside schools, where closures had fallen to around 140 of France’s 3,500 lycées by 10 October 2026.
