French Students Have Taken To The Streets Over Learning Conditions. Thousands Have Been Detained.

Protesters take part in a demonstration of high-school students as part of a nationwide protest movement over learning conditions in Marseille, south-eastern France, on October 6, 2026. Since late September, pupils have barred the entrances to hundreds of schools, complaining of teacher absences, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings ill-adapted to rising temperatures, among other grievances. (Credit: MIGUEL MEDINA/Getty Images)

Student protests over teacher shortages, crowded classrooms and deteriorating school facilities have spread across France, escalating into clashes and mass arrests just as President Emmanuel Macron's government seeks to push through a difficult package of spending restraint.

More than 5,000 people had been taken into police custody in connection with violence surrounding the demonstrations as of Monday, according to the French Ministry of Justice. Of the 5,060 people detained, 4,406, or 87%, were minors. Prosecutors had opened cases against 1,802 people, while 14 had been placed in pretrial detention.