France Shuts Hundreds of Schools as Student Protests Over Teacher Shortages Escalate

Hundreds of high schools across France remained closed on Monday as a wave of student protests over deteriorating campus conditions and chronic teacher shortages showed no sign of abating, prompting the government to declare that restoring order is its top priority.

Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told CNews television on Monday that authorities were focused first and foremost on bringing calm back to the country's education system, a remark that underscored the mounting pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's administration as unrest stretches into a second week.

The scale of the disruption was laid out a day earlier by National Education Minister Edouard Geffray, who said that between 400 and 500 of France's roughly 3,700 high schools were expected to be either fully or partially shut on Monday. That figure represents a significant share of the nation's secondary institutions and signals that the protest movement has moved well beyond its initial flashpoint.

Geffray also provided a stark accounting of the damage inflicted since the demonstrations began. He said 24 schools had been either burned or ransacked, and that 78 members of teaching staff had been injured. Those numbers, released on Sunday evening, offered the clearest official snapshot yet of the toll the unrest has taken on schools and educators.

The protests first erupted at the end of last month at a high school in a Parisian suburb, where students mobilized against a shortage of teachers. From that single starting point, the movement spread rapidly across the country, drawing in students from a wide range of regions and backgrounds.

Speaking from a high school in Paris, Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler reported that students had constructed a barricade at the building's entrance using dustbins and fences, a scene repeated at campuses in multiple cities. She said the students she spoke with made clear they wanted the government to hear their demands.

According to Butler, the students expressed deep frustration with teacher shortages, describing how they frequently go without instructors for core subjects such as mathematics and English. The absence of qualified teachers in these foundational courses has become a central grievance driving the movement.

The students also framed their protest as an expression of solidarity with peers in less affluent parts of France and in the country's overseas territories, where facilities are often inadequate. In their view, Butler reported, all young people should enjoy an equal right to education regardless of where they live or how much their region can afford to spend.

Television footage from across the country illustrated the intensity of the unrest. The French news channel BFMTV broadcast images of police and students clashing in Lille in the north, the use of tear gas in Toulouse in the southwest, and a fire being set as people attempted to force their way into a school in central Paris.

One of the most disturbing episodes occurred at the Lycee Vauquelin in Paris's 13th district. Carole Zerbib, the head of the school, said a "very determined" group wearing hoods and masks attacked the institution. Police and firefighters managed to extinguish the fire quickly and the school was evacuated, forcing classes to be suspended.

Zerbib described the assault as "very violent and happened very quickly," noting that the attack lasted between 15 and 20 minutes. Her account captures the sense of vulnerability felt by school administrators who have found themselves on the front line of a conflict that began as a peaceful demand for better resources.

The human cost of the unrest continues to mount. Since September 28, approximately 5,000 people, most of them teenagers, have been arrested nationwide, and dozens have been injured. The sheer number of detentions points to an unusually heavy security response to what originated as a school-based protest movement.

Further underscoring the dangers, the French newspaper La Voix du Nord reported on Monday that a teenager lost a hand after picking up a police stun grenade. The incident is likely to intensify scrutiny of police tactics and could inflame public opinion as the protests continue.

Teachers and members of the general public have also come under attack during the unrest, according to the available accounts, while the estimated cost of property damage has reached tens of millions of euros. The financial toll adds another layer of difficulty for a government already struggling to contain the crisis.

Student unions have called for a nationwide day of demonstration on Tuesday, a move that threatens to broaden the protests further and bring fresh numbers onto the streets. If the past week is any indication, the coming days could see renewed confrontations between demonstrators and security forces.

At the heart of the crisis is a structural problem that predates the current unrest: France's education system has struggled for years to recruit and retain teachers, particularly in disadvantaged areas. Chronic vacancies in subjects like mathematics and English have left students without consistent instruction, fueling a sense that their futures are being compromised.

The protest movement has also tapped into a broader frustration among French youth about inequality in education. Students argue that young people in poorer neighborhoods and overseas territories face inferior facilities and fewer opportunities, and they contend that the state has failed to guarantee the equal right to education that is supposed to be a cornerstone of the republic.

For the government, the challenge is twofold. It must restore calm and protect schools and staff, as Bregeon's remarks suggest, while also addressing the underlying grievances that brought students into the streets in the first place. Managing both simultaneously will be difficult, especially with tensions running high and another major demonstration scheduled.

As hundreds of schools stay shuttered and the threat of further clashes looms, France faces a critical test of its ability to reconcile its educational promises with the realities facing students and teachers. The coming days, beginning with Tuesday's planned nationwide demonstrations, will determine whether the crisis deepens or whether a path toward dialogue can be found.