France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has warned that any escalation in the current wave of student protests would be “irresponsible,” after police arrested 164 people on Monday.
The demonstrations – which began in Paris over overcrowded classes, teacher shortages and inadequate school facilities – have spread across France, with teenagers blockading schools for days and engaging in vandalism, fireworks and clashes with police.
Lecornu criticised the incidents on X, writing, “Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff, or police officers.”
The Union Syndicale Lycéenne – an association that represents high‑school students – called the protests a legitimate response to the conditions faced by students and urged further blockades to defend “their rights and against budget austerity.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that 12 security personnel, 12 students and three staff members were injured during Monday’s clashes, and that roughly 180 schools were affected across the country. Details on the arrested individuals remain scarce.
The disturbances have already reached southern France’s Alpes‑Maritimes and Var, Marseille, Lille and the Ardennes in the north‑east, with four schools reported blockaded so far. Authorities confirmed a range of violent incidents—including a police officer reportedly firing a grenade‑launcher projectile that injured a student—leading to investigations.
Lecornu also accused the far‑left France Unbowed (LFI) party of encouraging the movement’s expansion, while LFI’s leader Jean‑Luc Mélenchon blamed the government for “ordering the crackdown.” Police described the protests not as typical demonstrations but as “urban violence” involving masked individuals armed with fireworks and projectiles.
While the prime minister acknowledged that “the difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed,” he insisted that “violence must be condemned unequivocally, and its perpetrators must answer for their actions.”
