On Tuesday, student protests took place across France on a massive and militant scale, demanding increased funding for schools and better conditions.

The student union is calling it a “truly historic” moment and reports 450,000 protesters nationwide, including 100,000 in Paris. Authorities estimate the number at over 250,000 people, including 56,000 in Paris.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education estimates that approximately 900 schools are occupied or have suspended classes; students, however, claim the number is over 2,000.

Police fired tear gas at student protesters in Lyon and Strasbourg, France, as nationwide demonstrations demanded solutions for understaffed, dilapidated schools https://t.co/z0Ant8yIeN https://t.co/v8lNRUh5yX

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 6, 2026

Along with the students, parents, college students, and teachers took to the streets, as did the General Confederation of Labor, the country’s largest labor union.

The demonstrations were massive, with a massive police presence. Clashes and skirmishes with police were reported in Lille, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Rennes, among other cities. In many cases, police used tear gas, as happened in Paris, against students who had blockaded schools.

Scuffles broke out between protesters and police in Paris on Tuesday as high school students in France returned to the barricades as part of their protest movement demanding more resources for the school system. https://t.co/n2kN3QxEsh

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 6, 2026

In Paris, the president of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, also joined the demonstration and was greeted with enthusiasm by the protesters. “President Mélenchon!” they chanted, as the BBC reports.

Last week, the government more or less accused him of inciting the protests—or at least of seeking to exploit them. Marine Le Pen’s party took a similar stance.

Lecornu vs. Unbowed France

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu today condemned the riots before the National Assembly, rejected any police crackdown, and announced the suspension of classes in high schools toward the end of the week in order to organize a “process of internal democratic dialogue.”

He also accused the radical Left of having a “political plan” to “plunge the country into chaos” ahead of the April–May presidential elections.

“Lying about the government’s intentions won’t save you at the polls. Sowing chaos, as you’ve been doing since the start of the student protests, is a scandal,” and “we will not allow you to do so,” he added, after coming under a fierce verbal attack from Matilde Pano, president of the “Unbowed France” parliamentary group.

Riot police have fired tear gas at protesters in Paris after demonstrations across the country led to thousands of schools being partially or fully closed.

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Up to 40,000 people are expected to attend the protest in the French capital.

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— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 6, 2026

“We hear you, but understand that you are lucky”

Meanwhile, Education Minister Sabrina Roubas, on the one hand, points out that “we must listen to what young people are telling us” and, on the other hand, tells them that “they must realize that they are also fortunate.”

“We’re in France, a very large country,” she told the BBC’s Newshour, adding: “We’re lucky—we have free middle school, free college, free public schools, and free healthcare in France.”

He also said that France has a social model that is “perhaps the best in the world.”

Regarding the protests earlier today, he said he took to the streets today to listen to young people, while dismissing concerns that the police are responding with excessive force toward the protesters. He further explained that there is “a very high level of violence among young people,” and for that reason, he cannot ask police officers to refrain from responding at all.

Mass arrests, hundreds injured

The French Ministry of the Interior has announced that the police have made 6,100 arrests since the protests began, with the overwhelming majority being minors. Charges have been filed against more than 1,800 people, including 1,483 minors, according to the Ministry of Justice, which did not specify the crimes.

At least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in the clashes, according to Lecornu’s office.

The protests began in September in the impoverished suburbs of Paris, before spreading across the entire country, posing a significant challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s government, which is facing serious economic pressures and limited fiscal leeway.

Source: Protothema.gr