Live: Up to 500 schools to shut in France as student protests continue
France 24 · LC · trust 41/100
By: FRANCE 24 Students gather during a blockade at the Lycée Jules Ferry in Paris, France, on October 1st, 2026. © Urman Lionel, Reuters At least 413 high schools in France were disrupted on Monday as student protests continued, according to the country's education ministry. The protests over high teacher absence rates, overlong school days and dilapidated facilities began at a Paris school on September 17 but grew into a nationwide movement last week. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
The high school protest movement that's erupted over the past week here in France is showing no signs of slowing down.
Demonstrations have raged at more than 1,200 high schools, and more than 5,000 people – most of them minors – have been arrested.
Students are furious at what they say is a chronic lack of funding for state schools, with that anger exacerbated by accusations that state resources are unfairly distributed, with richer and whiter postcodes historically receiving the lion's share of funds.
Reporting from outside a high school in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, FRANCE 24's Luke Shrago says things are relatively calm as of early Monday morning as students seek to rebuild the momentum of last week’s protests following a weekend lull.
Students gather for a protest at the Turgot secondary school in Paris. ©Lou Benoist, AFP
A pupil holds a placard that says "To arms, citizens". ©Lou Benoist, AFP
A deputy headteacher stands behind barricades at the protest. ©Lou Benoist, AFP
FRANCE 24 looks at how French newspapers are covering the student protests that led to the closure of more than 400 schools on Monday.
Lawmakers in the French Senate will vote on October 27 on a new bill that would require protesters to pay for damages caused by a manifestation.
According to the proposed law, an individual could be required to pay for damage without proof that they committed it.
Éric Fassin, a sociologist and professor at Paris VIII University, says he sees these student protests first and foremost as a demand for equality, dignity and recognition.
Students from working-class suburbs are asking for the basic conditions that make studying possible and, ultimately, the same opportunities as students elsewhere.
Up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday because of a wave of student protests that has shaken the country, the education minister said.
Lessons will be "totally or partly suspended" in some "400-500" high schools as the security conditions "have not been fulfilled", said Education Minister Édouard Geffray on Sunday, adding that 24 schools had been "burned or ransacked" since the start of the movement.
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