Between 400 and 500 secondary schools in France were expected to be fully or partly closed on Monday as a wave of student protests entered its third week, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said. He said the closures would be similar to Friday's, but that the government hoped for a "partial, progressive return to lessons" where security conditions allow. France has about 3,700 lycées, the schools that teach pupils aged roughly 15 to 18.
The movement began on 17 September at a school in Créteil, a suburb southeast of Paris, over staff shortages, unreplaced absent teachers, long school days and decaying buildings. It spread nationwide last week, with barricades, clashes with riot police and fires at some schools. According to Geffray, 24 schools have been burnt or ransacked and 78 education staff have been injured. Damage is estimated at €20 million to €30 million. The interior ministry reports more than 5,000 arrests, mostly of minors. One serious incident was in La Ciotat, on the southern coast, where a 59-year-old teacher was doused with petrol and struck; a 16-year-old has been detained.
On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu sent ministers a "road map" with five priorities: ensuring regular lessons, renovating school buildings with regional authorities, reorganising the school day, making the university application platform Parcoursup more transparent, and giving students a bigger say in school life. Each academy is asked to give priority to replacing long-term absences and filling vacant posts, with a first review due on 16 October. Lecornu will meet regional presidents on Tuesday, and first decisions, with funding and timetables, are promised before the end of October. He also said the draft 2027 budget includes an extra €1.2 billion for the education ministry, bringing it to about €64 billion.
The government calls the grievances legitimate but condemns what it terms urban violence. Geffray says far-left activists have infiltrated and hijacked the movement, a claim that opposition parties reject. Student groups and teaching unions say no concrete measures have yet been offered and have called for new demonstrations on Tuesday. At an assembly in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, hundreds of students described the education system as neglected and unequal, and raised allegations of police violence, which Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has rejected. Parents' groups report widespread anxiety, and in the Paris region more than a third of lycées were expected to stay closed, with some switching to remote lessons that teachers regret.
The state of school buildings is a central concern. About 70% of school buildings in France are more than 50 years old, and regional authorities say they face budget shortfalls. The unrest has also overlapped with union pressure over budget cuts, and it has become one of the biggest domestic challenges for President Emmanuel Macron's government in months.