According to Reuters, local time on October 1st, protests and blockades by French students against the shortage of teaching staff and the dilapidated condition of school buildings continued to escalate. French officials said that attackers poured gasoline on a principal and set fire to at least two schools. The protest activities resulted in dozens of injuries and hundreds of arrests, most of whom were teenagers.
The police said that a fire broke out at the Saint-Exupéry High School in Marseille that morning. Hundreds of young people surrounded a fire truck that was trying to extinguish the fire, forcing the firefighters to escape from the vehicle. Subsequently, they set the fire truck on fire. At the Victor Hugo High School in Marseille, the school principal was also attacked and injured. A fire also broke out at the Nelson Mandela High School in the western French city of Nantes, but local officials stated that the fire was under control and no one was injured.
On October 1, 2026, in Saint-Denis near Paris, France, French high school students and college students confronted riot police. Reuters
This wave of protests began last week and has now become a political issue facing the French government. As the protests continued, the French government announced its budget for 2027 on October 1, which included a series of highly unpopular spending cuts. The office of French Prime Minister Le Pen held a crisis meeting regarding the protests that afternoon.
Meanwhile, protesters accused the police of using tough measures, including tear gas. In Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, a large number of young people gathered in front of the police force. A student held up a sign and questioned, "Can we explain our demands without being dispersed by tear gas?"
On the other hand, the French government criticized the violent acts that occurred during some of the protests, and stated that the difficulties faced by high schools should be recognized and addressed.
French Interior Minister Núñez said that in some areas, protesters are moving from one school to another to incite violence. French Education Minister Joffrey demanded that if protesters block schools, schools can adopt remote teaching methods. He also said, "Violence will not prevent our students from enjoying the basic right to education."
