French PM Urges Calm as 164 Protesters Arrested Amid Escalating School Blockades
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has warned that any further escalation in the country’s wave of student protests would be “irresponsible”, following the detention of 164 people on Monday.
The demonstrations began in Paris and have seen teenagers blockading their schools for days, triggered by overcrowded classes, teacher shortages and the pressure of France’s university‑applying platform, Parcoursup.
In a post on X, Lecornu condemned “fireworks, fires and violence near high schools”, saying “nothing justifies endangering students, staff or police officers”.
However, the Union Syndicale Lycéenne—a union representing high‑school students—labelled the protests a legitimate response to systemic neglect and called on students to continue their blockades against budget austerity.
Interior Minister Laurant Nuñez reported that 12 security personnel, 12 students and three school staff were injured on Monday, with 180 schools affected. 10% of the country’s 88,500 high‑school students could be in lockdown, according to the government.
Evacuated schools have reported vandalism, fireworks aimed at police and attacks on patrol officers. Four high schools in the south—Alpes‑Maritimes and Var—were reportedly blockaded, along with incidents in Marseille, Lille and Sedan.
The student union highlighted the decade‑long impact of President Macron’s policies on teacher staffing, infrastructure and student stress, arguing that the protests were a natural outcry against austerity.
Unions of teachers, hospital staff and civil servants joined the campaign, calling for a nationwide walk‑out to protest low wages and working conditions.
In response, Lecornu reiterated that while the “difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed”, “violence must be condemned unequivocally”, and its perpetrators must be held accountable.
He also accused the far‑left LFI party of urging students to expand the movement, a claim echoed by LFI leader Jean‑Luc Mélenchon, who blamed the government’s “ordered crackdown” on the protests and described the students as “harmless”.
Nuñez described the demonstrations as “not very typical protest movements”, adding that the incidents resembled “urban violence” involving masked individuals with fireworks and projectiles aiming to confront security forces, rather than a demand‑driven protest.
Incidents including a police officer allegedly leaving a round from a grenade launcher that injured a student, have been reported and investigations commenced, according to France’s BFMTV.
Image credit: EPA
