France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has condemned an escalating wave of high school student protests that swept across the country on Monday, describing further escalation as "irresponsible" after 164 people were arrested and at least 27 injured. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that among the injured were 12 members of the security forces, 12 students and three school staff members. One student was reported to have been struck by a round from a crowd-control grenade launcher, with investigations launched into that and other incidents. A separate troubling incident involved a student who sustained injuries to her hands and face after hydrochloric acid was thrown at her.

The protests began last week in the Île-de-France region around Paris, where teenagers began blockading the entrances to their lycées — the French equivalent of sixth form colleges or American high schools — in response to chronic problems including overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and heavy workloads. The movement has since spread to around 180 schools across the country, including in the southern regions of Alpes-Maritimes and Var, as well as in Marseille, the northern Lille area and the town of Sedan in the northeastern Ardennes. Amplified through social media, the protests have been driven, according to the newspaper Le Monde, by a widespread sense of injustice and poor conditions among students. Student union Union Syndicale Lycéenne blamed "10 years of Macron's policies and the lack of resources in the national education system" and called for continued school blockades on Tuesday, the same day that teachers, hospital workers and civil servants staged a national strike day over low wages and budget cuts.

The unrest has quickly become a flashpoint in France's increasingly polarised political landscape ahead of a presidential election scheduled for spring 2027. Lecornu accused France Unbowed (LFI), the far-left party led by veteran politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of actively encouraging students to expand the movement. Mélenchon, who is considered a leading presidential contender and commands particularly strong support among young voters, hit back by accusing the government of repressing students with "ferocity" and what he described as "an unmistakably racist undertone" — a charge Lecornu rejected as "an insult." While acknowledging that student grievances "must be heard and addressed," Lecornu drew a firm line: "Violence must be condemned unequivocally, and its perpetrators must answer for their actions."

Nuñez cast doubt on the protests' character, arguing they had moved beyond legitimate demonstration. "It is much more like urban violence, with individuals who were masked, equipped with fireworks in tubes and projectiles, who clearly wanted to confront security forces," he said. "It wasn't about making demands; it was really violence in its purest form." The overlapping pressures — student anger, a nationwide public sector strike and a fractious budget debate in a divided parliament — underscore the breadth of discontent facing the French government, with politicians across the ideological spectrum competing to channel public frustration as the 2027 election draws closer.