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A 15-year-old lost a hand. France is still tear-gassing high-school students.
Paris, 6 October 2026. Riot police and student protesters faced off across France on Tuesday as a movement over crowded classrooms, missing teachers and crumbling school buildings reached its largest day so far.
Authorities expected 20,000 to 40,000 people in Paris alone, with the main march leaving Place de la République for Place de la Nation in the afternoon. The interior ministry said about 86,000 people had already marched that morning in cities outside the capital, including Marseille, Nantes and Lyon.
What the students want
The protests began on 21 September at Saint-Exupéry high school in a northern Paris suburb, where pupils joined teachers striking over staff shortages and a lack of resources. Extra staff were sent and that local action ended, but the dispute had already spread.
Students and parents cite classes of 35 to 40, teachers who are absent and not replaced, buildings in poor repair, and school days that run from early morning to early evening. Banners on Tuesday included “We want to be heard, not teargassed” and “Our future is not optional.”
A fertility spike around 2010 means far more teenagers are now in secondary school. Secondary schools have fewer teachers than in 2008 even though about 250,000 more students are enrolled. The High School Students Union said more than half of France’s roughly 3,700 high schools were blockaded or closed for the day.
The day of action
Tuesday was framed by organisers as Act III. Teaching unions, including the FSU, CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA, SUD and Solidaires, called members out in support. CGT leader Sophie Binet said union members would be there to protect high-school students.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office urged peaceful gatherings and said ministers must send first proposals on school repairs by the end of October.
Many marches were orderly. Others were not. In Paris, teenagers built barricades of bins, metal barriers and shopping trolleys outside schools before dawn. In Lyon a barricade was set on fire. In Rennes police used water cannon. Reuters reported police firing tear gas at protesters blockading high schools.
Arrests and injuries
The justice ministry said 5,060 people had been arrested since the protests began, 87 percent of them minors, with more than 1,800 people being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors. Later reporting put arrests near 6,100, almost all minors.
The government said 215 students and 715 police officers had been injured. On Monday a 15-year-old in northern France lost a hand after, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, possibly picking up a stun grenade fired by riot officers.
Students and rights groups have accused police of excessive force. Amnesty International has called for an end to heavy-handed tactics and for internal investigations. One 17-year-old told The Guardian: “We’re teenagers with wheelie bins, and the police have heavy weapons.”
Why it matters now
The unrest lands on a government already short of money. President Emmanuel Macron cannot run again in 2027, and the race to succeed him is open. Public debt is high, and demands for better services are rising at the same time as calls for spending restraint.
Whether Tuesday was a peak or a starting gun is still open. Students say they have been ignored for years. Ministers say they will look at repairs. Between those two positions, France spent Tuesday with schools shut, streets blocked, and riot police on alert.
Sources
Reuters, Police fire teargas at French protesters on biggest day of school demonstrations, 6 October 2026.
The New York Times, Protests Spread Across France, Growing From School Demonstrations, 6 October 2026.
BBC News, France school protests, 6 October 2026.
RFI and AFP, Tens of thousands expected in Paris for high school protests, 6 October 2026.
The Guardian, 6 October 2026. CNN, Unprecedented student protests are rocking France, 6 October 2026.
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