đŽ Live: French PM denies 'police repression', suspends classes as clashes erupt at student protests
France 24 · LC · trust 56/100
By: FRANCE 24 Human Rights League observers use smart phones as they run through smoke during a student protest in Paris on October 6, 2026.tions. Since late September, pupils have barred the entrances to hundreds of schools, complaining of teacher absences, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings ill-adapted to rising temperatures, among other grievances. © Kenzo Tribouillard, AFP Around 250,000 people joined student protests across France on Tuesday, according to the French interior ministry. Organisers of the mass demonstrations put the figure of 450,000. Clashes erupted in some cities between the police and demonstrators demanding more education funding and resources on the biggest day yet of student protests. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet key ministers later today to discuss the high school student protests, according to a government source.
Prime Minister SĂ©bastien Lecornu, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Education Minister Ădouard Geffray will be among those meeting the president after a day of mass demonstrations across the country.
High school students Charlie (left) and Emma (right) at a Paris protest on October 6, 2026. (Photo: Ben Dodman, France 24)
Emma, ââ17, a student at the Saint-ExupĂ©ry high school in the Parisian suburb of CrĂ©teil, where the student protests began, joined the mass demonstrations on Tuesday.
"We appreciate that left-wing politicians came to support us at the school. But this is our fight; we don't want to be co-opted by left-wing parties or used as tools by the right," she said.
Charlie, a 17-year-old student at the LĂ©on Blum high school in CrĂ©teil, expressed gratitude to the trade unions, such as the CGT, whose leader Sophie Binet said its members would join Tuesdayâs protests to "protect high school students".
"Itâs quiet for now, and weâre grateful to the unions for being here to support us. When we come out to demonstrate, itâs our right, and we shouldn't have to be afraid of getting tear-gassed or beaten up," she said.
A police officer who fired a grenade launcher, injuring a student, during protests in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Ouen-l'AumĂŽne has been placed under formal investigation.
The grenade launcher seriously injured Eden, 14, in the face during a protest last week, the public prosecutor for the region said Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump has weighed in on the French student protests, claiming the scenes on the streets are not about schools, but of "Islam wanting to take over".
In a post on Truth Social, Trump noted that, "Whatâs happening in France is nothing less than out of control mass migration. This isnât about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over," a "once great" country.
Around 250,000 people joined student protests across France on Tuesday, according to the French interior ministry.
From crumbling buildings, to absent teachers who are not replaced, to applying to university, FRANCE 24's "Entre Nous" segment examines what has sparked the high school student demonstrations and if this protest movement is similar to the Yellow Vests mobilisation.
The organisers of Tuesday's mass protests say 450,000 people â including 100,000 in Paris â have participated in protests across France.
French Prime Minister SĂ©bastien Lecornu has accused the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of having a âpolitical agendaâ to âthrow the country into chaosâ ahead of next year's presidential election and of âsowing chaosâ since the start of the student protest movement.
âThe reality is that you take an ambiguous stance on violence because violence is part of your political agenda to throw the country into chaos between now and the presidential election,â Lecornu has told the National Assembly.
âLying about the governmentâs intentions wonât save you at the polls. Sowing chaos as you have been doing since the start of the high school student movement is a scandal,â he added.
French Prime Minister SĂ©bastien Lecornu has said there can be "no room for tolerance of violence", as tens of thousands of students took to the streets nationwide to protest at the state of schools.
"Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings. Lynching a teacher does not help replace teachers," Lecornu has told the National Assembly, adding that it was a "lie" to suggest the government had ordered "police repression" against demonstrators.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are marching in cities across France in support of protests by school pupils demanding more education funding, increasing pressure on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
A protester holds a sign, "F... the RN," referring to the far-right National Rally party, at a demonstration in Saint-Pierre in the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, a French overseas department, on October 6, 2026. (Photo: Richard Bouhet, AFP)
The CGT union estimates that 260,000 protesters have joined rallies across France, excluding those in Paris.
The Interior Ministry earlier put the figure at 86,000.
Riot police use water cannons as they face students during a protest against under-resourced schools in Rennes, western France,
As France's student protest movement continues, one of the main grievances is the condition of the countryâs schools, with many buildings severely dilapidated and, in some cases, posing dangerous risks. Oliver Farry reports.
"We just want better conditions," Thomas, a 17-year-old high school student from the Val-de-Marne suburb outside of Paris, told AFP.
"Sometimes we go to class and there aren't enough tables or chairs. Some days, if you're the last one to arrive at the canteen, you end up with just a piece of bread and some water. Our toilets have no doors, no toilet paper, no soap," he said.
Pascal Cabaret, a history teacher at a high school in Toulouse, said pupils and staff have the same demands. "A teacher to lead the class,âŠ
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