Paris (France) (AFP) - High school students in France set fires outside their schools and clashed with police on Friday, in the absence of any signs of abating a student protest movement that led to the closure and disruption of classes in at least 560 schools.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 14:54 Last updated: 02/10/2026 - 14:58

The protests began last week in the Paris region before quickly spreading across the country, as students in the final years of secondary school closed the entrances to their schools and clashed with the police.

Students say that school hours are excessively long, and that conditions in schools are inappropriate, including high temperatures in classrooms, as well as frequent staff absences.

The government says these complaints are legitimate, but rejects acts of violence.

In Paris, fire on Friday damaged the entrances to two secondary schools: Leonardo de Vinci in the south of the city and Gaston Bachelard in the southeast, while fire brigades were called to put out the fires, according to an Agence France-Presse photographer.

"A hostage of violent groups"

The Ministry of Education said that students carried out protests or disrupted classes in more than 560 schools on Friday.

She added that "564 schools have witnessed or are still witnessing movements or disturbances since the beginning of the day."

French Education Minister Edouard Geoffray said earlier that 400 secondary schools out of 3,700 across the country were expected to close.

Jeffray pointed out that "the high school student movement has become a hostage of extremely violent fringe groups."

He told BFMTV that at least 65 employees have been injured since the protests began, including 40 secondary school principals, and about 170 students have been injured, while more than 100 secondary schools have been exposed to “severe damage.”

He added, "Families must bear their responsibilities clearly and tell their children not to participate" in the protests.

He continued, "The most important thing now is to ensure that our children do not remain on the streets, because they are at risk."

For his part, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said that he asked prosecutors to hold parents responsible for the damage caused by their children during the protests, and to oblige them “to pay the costs of repairs.”

Darmanin added to RTL radio that about two thousand people, 90 percent of whom are minors, have been placed in police custody since the start of the movement.

"We won"

In the city of Rennes in western France, tension was evident in front of Jean Masset High School, where students wearing black clothes and masks gathered amid heavy security deployment.

Lola (16 years old), who refused to reveal her last name, said, "For us, we have won. Our school is closed this morning."

She denounced what she described as police violence, saying, "This increases our anger. The police have no right to beat us or use tear gas against us."

In the city of Brest in western France, police used tear gas in front of Kerishin High School, according to an Agence France-Presse photographer.

The protests also gained a political dimension, just over six months before the presidential elections, as the government accused the radical leftist France Intrepid Party, whose leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon is running for president, of being behind the movement.

But party leader Manuel Bombard accused the government of "sliding into conspiracy theories."

In an attempt to calm tensions, the Minister of Education said that he would meet on Friday with education unions and high school student associations in an effort to find common ground for dialogue.

© 2026 AFP

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