French teenagers clashed with police on Tuesday, setting rubbish bins alight and hurling projectiles as they continued blockades at high schools across the country, demanding better learning conditions. The protests, which began last week in the Île-de-France region around Paris, have now spread to cities including Lille, Nantes, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lyon.
At the Lycée Cesar Baggio in Lille, masked students gathered outside the school, setting bins on fire and vandalising bus shelters and advertising billboards. Police responded with tear gas as bottles, paving stones, and other objects were thrown. Similar scenes unfolded at the Lycée Gabriel Guist'hau in Nantes, where dozens of bins were piled up to block the entrance, and in Paris, where a tense standoff occurred between 30 students and police at the Arago school.
The grievances driving the movement are wide-ranging: students complain of overcrowded timetables, oversized classes, a shortage of teachers, and classrooms that became unbearably hot during recent heatwaves. At the Lamartine school in Paris, around 80 students brandished signs reading “more hours of lessons than sleep” and “8:00 am to 6:00 pm, are we pupils or under arrest?”
In Rennes, at the Lycée Brequigny, Brittany's largest high school, about a hundred students threw projectiles at the building, according to an AFP video journalist. The actions come as unions have called for a day of nationwide demonstrations and strikes over the budget proposed by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron.
Unions and political backlash
Tens of thousands were expected to rally in Paris and other cities, with teachers and fire services striking nationwide, though public transport was not badly affected. Sophie Binet, head of the hardline CGT union, told BFM TV: “The anger is immense. I warn the government, it must address the demands and revise the draft budget, which is dangerous for the country and is driving us straight into the wall of recession at 200 kilometres an hour.”
A 17-year-old pupil at the Lamartine school, who asked not to be named, said they were angered by a lack of resources, overheated classrooms, and overly congested timetables. “We are also there to support our teachers who have a crazy amount of work compared to what they earn,” she told AFP.
Prime Minister Lecornu on Monday described any escalation of demonstrations at high schools as “irresponsible” and criticised the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party for encouraging the protests. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 164 arrests were made on Monday and 180 schools were affected, adding: “We cannot tolerate excesses.”
In the low-income Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, the district's LFI mayor, Bally Bagayoko, joined a protest of hundreds of students at the Lycée Paul-Eluard. Leading students in a rendition of the Marseillaise, he described the protests as “completely legitimate” and complained that low-income areas receive fewer resources than wealthier ones.
The unrest comes amid broader tensions in French society, with the government facing criticism over its handling of public services and social inequality. The protests have also drawn attention to the challenges facing the education system, which has been under strain from budget cuts and staffing shortages.
As the movement shows no signs of abating, the government faces a delicate balancing act between addressing legitimate grievances and maintaining public order. The coming days will be crucial in determining whether the blockades escalate further or lead to meaningful dialogue.
