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Student protests have gripped France as thousands have rallied in increasingly violent demonstrations, which are expected to hit a peak today.
Teachers, students and parents marched in cites across France on Tuesday and protesters blockaded hundreds of schools, in the biggest day of action yet, as they united together against staff shortages and dilapidated school buildings.
Young people held aloft smoke flares and placards reading “Under our school books, anger” and “Where are the politicians? Do they even know we exist?”
Teenage students stood on barricades made of trash cans in front of `schools from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south, and from Strasbourg in the east to Nantes in the west.
In Paris they held up banners reading “We want to be heard, not teargassed” and “Our future is not optional”.
The government responded with riot police, saying the movement had now morphed into urban violence in widespread protests over the last week.
In one violent protest, a 15-year-old student had their hand blown off after picking up a stun grenade being used by police, local authorities said.
In pictures: Protestors face full force of riot police in Paris
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 10:48
Protesting pupils blockade French high schools again
Protesting pupils blockaded their high schools again Tuesday, a day of planned demonstrations that will test the resilience and energy of a weeks-old nationwide movement demanding more resources for the school system.
At the Hélène Boucher lycée, or high school, in Paris’ 20th district, protesters laid trash cans and bicycles on their sides to create a makeshift barricade in front of the school.
Like hundreds of others around the country, the school was closed.
Authorities began shutting schools last week to take some steam out of the demonstrations after widespread damage to schools and mounting injuries among staff, students and police.
French media also reported protests in other cities and towns on Tuesday morning, as labor unions called for workers to demonstrate later Tuesday in support of the high school movement that is rattling the government of President Emmanuel Macron.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 10:19
Protestors and police clash in Strasbourg
Protestors and French police have clashed in Strasbourg this morning.
Photos show riot police pushing back protestors.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 09:52
Watch: ‘I could feel the petrol dripping’: The violent attacks that have marred France school protests
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 09:18
How many people have been arrested?
France’s Justice Ministry said 5,060 people have been arrested since the protests began, with 87 per cent of them minors.
More than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors, the ministry said, without specifying the crimes. It said 790 cases had been dismissed.
At least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in clashes, according to Lecornu’s office.
Six months before an election to replace Macron, his government and the far-right National Rally, led by presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, have accused hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) lawmakers and mayors of stoking the protests. The LFI denies the accusation.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 09:18
In pictures: Students start to gather for today’s protest
Students have started to gather for today’s protest, which is expected to the biggest demonstration yet.
Up to 50,000 protestors are expected, French media has reported.
Banners which say “Listen to them” and “Young people in anger” were seen held by the students.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 09:15
50,000 set to demonstrate across Paris today as violent displays escalate
Young people have united together against staff shortages and dilapidated school buildings in widespread protests over the last week.
Teenage students stood on barricades made of trash cans in front of `schools from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south, and from Strasbourg in the east to Nantes in the west.
In Paris they held up banners reading “We want to be heard, not teargassed” and “Our future is not optional”.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 October 2026 09:10
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