The French School Protests – Where Next?

When French students took to the streets, the government responded with violence, while blaming the left for ‘fanning the flames’. If this centrist ploy works, the far right will grow even stronger.

Paris, Oct. 4: Student protestors gather around the Monument à la République. Photo by Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images

Like all flash movements, France’s student revolt escalated fast. Within a week, a single blockade at the crumbling, understaffed Lycée Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry in Créteil – a poor suburb south-east of Paris – became a nationwide challenge to President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s centrist government. It could now affect next year’s presidential election.

On Sept. 17, students at the lycée (upper secondary school) rallied behind teachers striking against budget cuts. Four days later, they blockaded over decrepit conditions and understaffing. They were not alone. Nationally, nearly 10% of secondary teaching hours were undelivered in 2024-25, and almost a fifth in the poorest schools.