France’s student protests bring school demands to presidential campaign stages

Paolo Stuppia, a professor of sociology and politics at Sciences Po Paris, told Euronews: “It’s not new for students from the suburbs to rally around demands that are specific to them, and then for those demands to be taken up by other secondary schools located closer to the city centre.”

The demonstrations drew more than 250,000 people nationwide on Tuesday, Oct. 6, including 56,000 in Paris, according to Interior Ministry estimates reported by AP. The Education Ministry said classes were fully or partly suspended at 891 schools that day, AP reported.

The teacher pledge faces questions about fit

Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced Thursday, Oct. 8, that 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed to schools facing shortages. He estimated the measure would cost tens of millions of euros in 2026.

Jean-Rémi Girard, president of the SNALC teachers’ union, urged caution about the figure. “We need to look at the details, because we have to be careful with this figure that has been thrown around,” Girard told Euronews.

Unions say available teachers may not match schools’ needs by subject or location. Girard also pointed to continuing replacement difficulties, crowded classrooms and poorly equipped facilities during heat waves. The promised number alone does not resolve whether substitutes can reach the schools and subjects with the greatest need.

Candidates bring the dispute to campaign rallies

Attal presented his youth pact at a rally in Lyon on Saturday. The proposal made education and young people a campaign issue as France’s 2027 presidential contest takes shape, Le Monde reported.

At a campaign rally Sunday, Mélenchon praised the high-school movement and proposed lowering the voting age to 16 and ending selective university admissions, AP reported. He has said his party supports the protesters but does not organize the movement, and that demonstrations should remain peaceful.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned violence and warned political leaders against using student anger for electoral battles. The government and right-wing and far-right opposition parties accused Mélenchon and his party of exploiting the protests, Euronews reported. Candidates’ endorsements do not make the movement a single campaign bloc: students’ concerns and tactics vary.

Police response and arrests remain part of the story

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez defended police actions as proportionate in almost all cases, while saying some demonstrations had become riots requiring police intervention. Euronews reported 24 police disciplinary investigations into incidents involving students.

Justice Ministry figures reported by Le Monde show 6,877 people were placed in police custody in connection with the movement from Sept. 21 through Oct. 8; 86% were minors. Among those taken into custody, 453 adults and 1,923 minors faced charges. Being placed in custody is not a finding of guilt.

Students and unions have called another protest for Tuesday, Oct. 13, as the government’s staffing pledge and campaign proposals face further scrutiny.