Up to 500 French high schools to shut Monday as student protests escalate nationwide

French Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced on Sunday that between 400 and 500 high schools (lycées) across the country will close fully or partially on Monday because of safety concerns amid nationwide student protests that have shaken the national education system.

What led to the mass school closures across France?

The decision to suspend classes across hundreds of institutions arrives as student unions prepare for massive coordinated rallies on Tuesday, October 6. In the Île-de-France region surrounding Paris, regional president Valérie Pécresse confirmed that more than a third of the area's 468 high schools will remain closed on Monday. Since the mobilization began on September 17, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked during demonstrations.

High school students are demanding structural reforms to address high teacher absenteeism, overcrowded classrooms, excessively long daily schedules, and dilapidated physical infrastructure. In response to mounting political pressure, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu outlined a federal timeline urging local authorities to accelerate teacher recruitment and scheduled a high-level summit for Tuesday with regional presidents to address modernizing school facilities.

How have violence, arrests, and human rights groups responded?

The ongoing protests have been marked by escalating violence between teenage demonstrators and riot police:

• Casualties & Mass Arrests: Over 5,000 individuals—85 percent of them minors—have been arrested since mid-September. Minister Geffray confirmed that 78 education staff members have been injured in targeted assaults. In La Ciotat, a 16-year-old was detained on Sunday for assaulting a 59-year-old teacher who was struck and doused with gasoline.
• Political Accusations vs. Human Rights Warnings: Minister Geffray accused far-left activist groups of infiltrating and hijacking the student movement to incite extreme violence. Conversely, Amnesty International France president Anne Savinel-Barras condemned "disproportionate police violence," calling on authorities to allow youth to express grievances without fear of tear gas, rubber bullets, or arbitrary detention. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez defended security forces, stating police are protecting peaceful demonstrators rather than repressing them.

According to reporting by The Guardian, student leaders and major trade unions have vowed to maintain pressure until the government delivers binding policy commitments.