France gripped by spreading student protests as PM calls crisis meeting

PARIS (AP) — France’s prime minister convened a crisis meeting Thursday and canceled ministers’ trips to focus on the nationwide spread of protests, some violent, by high school students venting about under-resourced schools, long hours and other complaints.

The demonstrations erupted in Paris-region schools last week and have snowballed, with police making hundreds of arrests in clashes with the young protesters. Authorities have reported many dozens of injuries, including from hurled objects but also, in some suspected cases, from police riot-control projectiles.

The protests are quickly blowing up as a hot topic in the election campaign to replace President Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term next May. They are also heightening pressure on the government beset by France’s growing financial problems, and overshadowing the release on Thursday of its proposed cost-cutting budget for 2027.

At a Paris high school where students barricaded an entrance, 18-year-old Salama Gargouri said protesters want to target “overloaded schedules, the system, the teachers, people who don’t listen to us, the university application process.”

High school students in France often start classes at 8 a.m. and remain at school until late afternoon.

“Older people say, ‘Kids, go to school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.’ But you don’t know what that does mentally,” said Janna Tahari, another Paris high school student.

Arson, thrown projectiles and other violence on the margins of some protests have caused mounting injuries and recriminations. The interior minister has issued orders for police to break up blockades that prevent pupils from attending classes and to put a stop to violence and vandalism.

Juliette Estiville, a high school Spanish teacher, said that the repression of the protests led her to join the students.

“So, I’m here just to provide protection, to form a barrier between the police and the students,” she said. “And indeed, today went well, it’s going well, but I really think that the teachers who come to the blockades are really just there to protect our young people.”

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said Thursday’s violence included a school set on fire and staff doused with gasoline. He said he issued instructions that classes be held remotely when blockades or damage to schools put students at risk.

“Violence will not deprive our students of their fundamental right to education,” Geffray said in a post on X.

Far-left presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon has denounced the government response as repressive. His critics have accused Mélenchon’s party of inciting violence and using the unrest to score points ahead of the presidential election.

The office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he asked ministers to cancel any planned official trips in the coming days, to enable authorities and police to focus on dealing with the demonstrations.

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Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report