France's Student Blockades Spread: 400 High Schools Closed

At least 400 of France's 3,700 high schools were closed on October 2, 2026, after a student protest movement that began near Paris the previous week spread nationwide.

The Ministry of National Education said 560 high schools reported protests or disruptions that day, up sharply from earlier in the week. Al Jazeera

Students cited large class sizes and absent teachers as the first grievances. They also pointed to crumbling school buildings. Blockades spread from 356 schools reported on September 30 to the far higher total reported on October 2. Reuters

Some protests turned destructive. Fire damaged the entrances of Leonard de Vinci high school in southern Paris and Gaston-Bachelard high school in southeastern Paris. Education Minister Edouard Geffray said more than 100 high schools sustained severe damage. In a separate incident reported October 1, attackers doused a teacher with petrol as protests spread.

Detentions and injuries rose quickly. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said about 2,000 people had been detained, the vast majority children. Geffray said at least 170 students and 65 school staff members, including 40 principals, were wounded. Minister Laurent Nunez said more than 300 police officers and gendarmes, who serve as police in much of France, had been injured. The totals are a steep increase from September 30, when the prime minister warned against escalation and authorities reported 164 arrests. BBC

On October 2, Geffray urged parents to tell their children not to join the protests, saying children face danger on the streets. The Interior Ministry banned demonstrations around the 400 high schools closed that Friday, October 2. Unions were received by the minister that day as officials prepared for a Friday under high tension.

The high-school movement coincided with a public sector strike (a walkout by government workers) against the government's budget plans. By October 1, university campuses had joined the high-school blockade movement, widening it beyond secondary schools.

The broader context here is a clash between demands for school resources and the challenge of keeping order. Injuries among students, educators, principals and police, plus detention of minors on this scale, will test courts and schools. Because classroom conditions are now linked to a budget fight, pressure is growing on the education and interior ministries over how they guard schools, process detained children, and repair damaged buildings.