More than 400 schools faced disruptions across France as high school students and public-sector unions launched widespread demonstrations against proposed spending reductions and deteriorating classroom conditions.
Prime Minister Prepares 2027 Budget
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government prepares to present its 2027 budget as the unrest unfolds. The fiscal plan includes a planned €54 billion savings programme intended to curb a rising debt burden and lower the public deficit.
National statistics agency Insee recorded France’s public debt at €3.595 trillion at the end of June, equating to roughly 119% of gross domestic product. Government estimates project that debt could climb to 121.7% of GDP in 2027. Meanwhile, debt-servicing costs continue to mount, with interest payments expected to reach around €79 billion this year before rising to €91 billion in 2027.
Students Protest Overcrowded Classrooms
Students initiated blockades and demonstrations to protest staff shortages, school conditions, and punishing schedules.
Academic performance has also suffered. In the 2025 PISA assessment released in September, France recorded its worst results since records began in 2000.
“We want fewer police because we think there is a huge amount of police repression, both against high school student movements and social movements more generally.”
Mael Breton, final-year student, via Indiatimes
The Ministry of Education noted that closures affected hundreds of schools, while the regional president Valérie Pécresse stated that more than 160 of the 468 public high schools in the Paris region remained closed. The movement traces its origins back to a blockade at a high school in Créteil on September 18, set up after teachers raised staff shortage concerns. Minister Édouard Geffray noted that between 400 and 500 high schools experienced total or partial course suspensions, while the Union Syndicale Lycéenne reported that protests reached approximately 1,800 of the country’s 3,600 upper secondary schools. Demonstrations also prompted international figures to weigh in, with Donald Trump describing the unrest as uncontrolled mass migration and claiming that Islam wanted to take over the country, while Mike Waltz condemned the violence and blamed European migration policy failures for fueling the frustration.
Civil Servants Clash with Police During Summer Demonstrations
This summer, who was on the front line? It wasn’t the billionaires, the big bosses or the shareholders. It was civil servants and working people. And how are they being thanked? By cutting their pay?
Sophie Binet, CGT leader, via Indiatimes
While many demonstrations remained peaceful, others involved stone-throwing, fires, and clashes with police. Law enforcement responded with tear gas and batons. In Lille, students set rubbish bins on fire outside the Lycée César Baggio, prompting police to deploy tear gas and batons after projectiles were thrown. In Paris, students blocked the entrance to the Lycée Arago using bins alongside placards bearing slogans such as Macron explosion
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According to the French Ministry of Justice, over 700 police officers sustained injuries and 6,000 demonstrators were arrested since the movement began, with roughly 2,000 detained pending prosecution.