Hundreds of schools to shut on October 5 as student protests rock France
Hundreds of high schools across France are closing due to escalating student protests over poor facility conditions, teacher shortages, and long school days. The government has condemned the violence, alleging that far-left activists have infiltrated and hijacked the student movement.
Why it matters
The unrest reflects growing social dissatisfaction among French youth and poses a significant domestic security and political challenge for the French education ministry.
Up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday (October 5, 2026) because of a wave of student protests that has shaken the country, the Education Minister said.
Lessons will be "totally or partly suspended" in some "400-500" high schools as the security conditions "have not been fulfilled", said Education Minister Edouard Geffray on Sunday (October 4, 2026), adding that 24 schools had been "burned or ransacked" since the start of the movement.
He described the closures as chiefly a security precaution ahead of large-scale protests that the leaders of the movement have called for Tuesday (October 6, 2026).
The teenagers at French high schools, known as lycees, say that their studies are being ruined by high teacher absence rates, overlong school days and dilapidated facilities, as well as other grievances.
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