French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered the suspension of all high school operations across France for the remainder of the week, government officials announced Tuesday. The emergency shutdown followed widespread demonstrations demanding structural educational reforms that deteriorated into violent confrontations between student activists and riot police. Official estimates released by the Interior Ministry placed nationwide protest turnout at approximately 250,000 people on Tuesday, though student organizing coalitions asserted that mobilization numbers neared half a million.
Nearly 2,000 secondary educational facilities faced blockades or full suspensions.
Prime Minister Lecornu maintained that suspending formal class schedules would create administrative space for headteachers, faculty, and pupils to engage in internal dialogue concerning school maintenance and resource allocation. However, he sharply rebuked escalating vandalism targeting public property, remarking that incinerating high schools does nothing to improve classroom infrastructure. Rallies escalated throughout Tuesday morning across major urban hubs including Marseille, Nantes, and Lyon, with marching students carrying banners highlighting severe institutional neglect.
Security units deployed chemical dispersal rounds to break blockades in multiple cities.
Confrontations grew particularly volatile across Strasbourg, Lyon, and Rennes, where police units fired barrages of tear gas as crowds erected street barricades, ignited rubbish piles, and hurled stones. The unrest originated over two weeks ago within disadvantaged suburban districts encircling Paris, before spreading across provincial capitals. In response, ministerial authorities categorized the demonstrations as coordinated urban violence and dispatched specialized tactical policing brigades to contain regional gatherings.
Tensions deepened following an incident in northern France, where a 15-year-old student suffered severe traumatic injuries resulting in the amputation of his hand and forearm during confrontations with security personnel. Regional police stated that an aggressive crowd numbering between 200 and 250 individuals had targeted operational officers with makeshift projectiles. Local investigative reporting confirmed the minor sustained the devastating injury after picking up an unexploded police crowd-control grenade from the roadway.
Student leaders described the administration`s physical containment strategy as evidence of a widening systemic divide. Hugo Vetzel, a Strasbourg student preparing for university admissions, noted that democratic institutions fail whenever governing authorities meet grievances with tactical force.
Civilian assemblies and student federations have warned that walkouts will persist until ministries commit to concrete budgetary adjustments.
