French authorities detained more than 600 people on Wednesday as protests at lycées across the country intensified, triggering violent clashes between students and security forces.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned what he described as an “escalation of violence” unfolding outside schools in multiple regions of France.
The unrest left 83 police officers and gendarmes wounded in a single day, with 32 teachers and pupils also sustaining injuries during the disturbances.
Nunez confirmed the protests had affected 356 schools, slamming the “targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what amounts… to urban violence.”
Teenagers at French lycées have been blockading school entrances since last week, driven by grievances over overcrowded classrooms, heavy workloads, poor-quality learning materials, and chronic teacher shortages.
One student, 17-year-old Fadila, told Reuters that conditions inside her school were deeply troubling, describing the presence of cockroaches and rats, and classrooms that swung between sweltering heat and freezing cold depending on the weather.
The movement originated in the Ile-de-France region surrounding Paris before spreading rapidly to other parts of the country, including Bordeaux, Lyon, and the northern city of Lille.
Authorities in Lille again deployed tear gas against demonstrators on Wednesday, according to AFP, as the protests continued to intensify across multiple urban centers.
President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to reporters in Madrid, acknowledged that students’ concerns were legitimate but insisted they could not justify violence against police officers, teachers, or other individuals.
“High schools are meant to be open and to share knowledge. They are not meant to be blockaded or to have trash cans set on fire,” Macron said, drawing a firm line between peaceful demonstration and the disorder playing out across the country.
Both Macron and Nunez accused far-left agitators of deliberately inflaming the protests, with Nunez claiming individuals moved between schools specifically to incite students to commit violent acts.
Officials and politicians targeted left-wing party La France Insoumise and its presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, accusing them of using inflammatory rhetoric to stoke student anger throughout the unrest.
Melenchon had accused the government on Monday of implementing a “crackdown” with “obvious racist undertones,” and wrote “Hands off our youth!” on social media while urging LFI activists to support the protests.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu fired back, calling the racism accusation “an insult” and accusing Melenchon of “racializing a debate about student security and adding to division where a responsible politician should be looking to restore calm.”
