Imagine walking into classrooms with too many students, not enough teachers, and a school building that lacks basic facilities. That is the situation thousands of French high school students say they are protesting.
What began as demonstrations in the suburbs of Paris has now spread throughout France, with students blocking school entrances and taking to the streets to demand better learning conditions. In some places, the protests have grown increasingly violent, bringing students into clashes with police and putting the government under pressure.
So, what exactly are French students protesting about? Where did the movement begin? And why has a protest over schools turned into a wider national crisis?
The current movement is centred on France's public high schools, known as lycées, where students spend the final three years of secondary education before joining universities.
Students have complained about crowded classrooms, a shortage of teachers and dilapidated school buildings. They have also raised concerns about missing support staff, inadequate facilities and the pressure created by France's university admissions system.
“It was really difficult to concentrate, especially when you’re in a small classroom with 35 people in it. So it’s true that you can very quickly lose concentration,” 17-year-old Madeleine Landry told Reuters. “We don’t always have fans in every classroom, so it can get really, really hot,” she told the news agency.
For many students, these are not abstract complaints about government policy but everyday problems.
The protests began at a high school in Créteil in the southeast of Paris, in September, with students protesting vacant teaching positions. It then spread to other schools in Paris before moving to other cities and towns across the country.
By the end of September, hundreds of high schools had become a hotbed of activism.
The movement expanded rapidly through student networks and social media, with calls for school blockades spreading online. Reuters reported this week that protests have spread to more than 1,200 high schools in France.
The protests have been particularly visible in disadvantaged areas around Paris, where students say poor infrastructure and staff shortages have made existing inequalities worse.
The immediate anger is over the conditions at schools, but the protests are also tied to a much bigger debate over France's public spending.
The government announced its 2027 budget plan under pressure to reduce spending. The education budget is expected to rise by 1.7 per cent to around €65.53 billion, excluding teacher pensions. But because the increase is below inflation, critics argue that it does not amount to a meaningful improvement in resources.
Students and teachers are therefore asking a basic question: if schools are already struggling with staff shortages and ageing infrastructure, will the proposed funding be enough to fix those problems?
The demonstrations turned violent in some places. Police have used tear gas and other crowd-control measures in several locations. Protesters have also set fire to waste bins and other objects, directed fireworks at police and, in some cases, damaged school buildings and other property.
According to Reuters, more than 5,000 people have been arrested, most of them teenagers. Some protesters suffered serious injuries, including to their eyes, besides broken teeth and blows to the head. More than 600 police officers were also reportedly injured.
The violence has complicated the original education-focused demands.
The government has acknowledged that some of the students' concerns are legitimate, while insisting that violence, vandalism and attacks on police or school staff cannot be accepted.
The French government is facing pressure on two fronts: Addressing the problems raised by students and also restoring order as the protests become more disruptive.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray met student representatives on October 2 and proposed measures including work on school democracy and schedules, faster replacement of absent teachers and a consultation platform for students to raise their concerns. Student representatives, however, said they remained disappointed and called for the protests to continue.
Meanwhile, police have been deployed to deal with blockades and violent incidents. Authorities have warned that the students’ movement could be exploited by groups seeking to escalate the unrest. According to news agency AFP, the hard-left France Unbowed party has rejected government claims that it organised the protests.
The immediate question is whether the movement can remain focused on education or whether continued clashes will push the original demands into the background.
Student unions have called for further demonstrations, while teachers' unions have also announced strike action. The government is under pressure to address complaints about staffing and school conditions without allowing the unrest to spiral further.
At its heart, however, the protest is about something much simpler than the political arguments surrounding it. The students want to be able to learn in classrooms where there are sufficient teachers, enough space and adequate facilities.
For them, the question is not simply how much France spends on education. It is whether that spending is actually visible when they walk through the school gates.
(This copy is compiled by Ankitha Susan Saju)