Student Protests In France: A School Principal Was Doused With Gasoline In Paris
6- 2.10.2026, 8:53
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College students joined the high school students.
Protests by schoolchildren in France have escalated into criminal acts and are spreading to more and more French cities, according to BBC. On Thursday in Paris, attackers doused the principal of a school with gasoline and set fires at at least two educational institutions, Reuters reports, citing officials at City Hall.
Police in Marseille reported that on Thursday morning, hundreds of young people surrounded a fire truck that had arrived to extinguish a fire at the Saint-Exupéry high school. They forced the firefighters to leave the truck, after which they set it on fire.
At another high school in Marseille (named Victor Hugo), according to the prosecutor’s office, the principal was attacked and injured.
The school lobby in the western French city of Nantes was completely destroyed by fire, local authorities reported.
In Lille, in the north of the country, students on Thursday built makeshift barricades out of trash cans and set them on fire.
In Strasbourg, firefighters responded to a call after trash containers were set on fire near a school. In Dijon, police used tear gas to disperse protesters.
Nationwide student protests began last week. The epicenter was the Île-de-France region around the capital.
Students took to the streets to protest teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, the poor condition of school buildings, and students’ heavy workload.
However, what began as youth demonstrations has escalated into vandalism and violent clashes with police, according to French authorities, who have vowed to crack down hard on the violence.
The students, for their part, accuse the police of using violence. One of the protesters suffered a head injury, which the prosecutor’s office attributed to the police’s use of rubber bullets.
In the past few days, college students have joined the high school students.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a press interview that 440 people have been detained so far, and 76 protesters and 48 law enforcement officers have been injured. Most of those detained are minors.
Earlier reports indicated that about a thousand people had been detained, but it appears that most of them were released shortly thereafter.
According to the French Ministry of Education, the protests or related disruptions have affected more than 400 schools across the country.
French Minister of Education Édouard Geoffroy stated that some of the students’ demands are entirely justified, but he is concerned about the violence accompanying the protests.
According to him, one young man injured his hand while setting off a firework.
On Wednesday, a student suffered a serious eye injury near a school in Tours.
Last Tuesday, the students’ protests coincided with demonstrations by public-sector workers—including teachers and firefighters—who were protesting planned budget cuts in France.
On Thursday afternoon, the office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu held an emergency meeting. No decisions made during the meeting have been reported yet.
According to some sources, the authorities do not rule out the possibility that they are dealing not with spontaneous expressions of legitimate discontent, but with a well-coordinated protest movement.
However, no official statements have been made on this matter yet.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that in some areas, provocateurs are moving from one school to another, attempting to incite unrest.
Education Minister Édouard Geoffroy urged schools to switch to remote learning if protesters block access to the buildings.
“Violence will not deprive our students of their fundamental right to education,” he wrote on X.
The government acknowledged that problems exist in French high schools and need to be addressed, but strongly condemned the violence accompanying the protests.
Responding to questions about police actions, which have been criticized by some politicians, Interior Minister Laurent Nunes stated that law enforcement acted “in a manner strictly proportionate to the situation.”
USL leaders called for a large-scale nationwide protest on October 6.
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