Students gather for a demonstration near Lycée Deodat High School in Toulouse, southwestern France, on October 1, 2026.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
Hundreds of schools were closed across France on Friday after widespread student protests turned violent.
More than 400 schools were closed in the aftermath of the rally, and thousands of students mobilized to express their dissatisfaction with dilapidated school buildings, long working hours and a shortage of teachers.
School hours in French high schools vary depending on the timetable, but are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
According to reports, the Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that 1,027 of France’s approximately 3,700 lycées (high schools) were affected, including 222 that were placed under lockdown.
On September 29, 2026, students carry out a protest at César Baggio Secondary School in Lille.
Samir Aldumy | AFP | Getty Images
Rallies have become increasingly violent this week, with some demonstrators clashing with police and setting schools and vehicles on fire. Dozens of education staff, hundreds of police officers and more than 100 students are said to have been injured since the protests began, according to French news outlets.
The movement that started in Paris spread across the country, with protests taking place all over the country.
Police officers in riot gear confront student protesters who have set up a blockade outside the Le Corbusier secondary school in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, on October 1, 2026.
Lou Benoit | AFP | Getty Images
Education Minister Edouard Jeffrey said in an interview that the movement was “initially legal,” but France’s interior ministry said Thursday that the riot “no longer has anything to do with a legitimate expression of the demands of high school students.”
The ministry said the situation had the characteristics of “urban violence”, according to French newspaper Le Monde.
Mr Jeffrey is scheduled to meet with teachers’ unions, student representatives and parents’ groups on Friday.
budget cuts
The unrest is causing major political headaches for the government, which is about to begin tough budget negotiations against a backdrop of division and economic turmoil.
Students at Jules Ferry Junior and Senior High School in the 9th arrondissement block the entrance and chant anti-government slogans during a protest in Paris, France, October 1, 2026.
Antoine Guillory | Corbis News | Getty Images
Officials tabled the budget on Thursday, and the government is now tasked with persuading lawmakers in a politically divided parliament to agree to the plan.
After the crisis meeting, the prime minister’s office said intelligence services viewed the move as “an operation orchestrated by the LFI and its far-left proxies,” according to Reuters.
Some members of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) have openly supported the student movement.
CNBC has contacted the LFI party and the prime minister’s office for comment.
Finance Minister Laurent Lescure told reporters on Thursday that the 2027 budget targets fiscal adjustments worth 54 billion euros ($60.8 billion). Part of the cuts is planned to be a pay freeze for public sector workers such as teachers.
The European Union’s second-largest economy has repeatedly violated EU rules on budget deficits and debt limits. Successive prime ministers have been ousted from office after attempts to bring reforms, spending cuts and tax increases to control the situation failed.
However, France is in difficult fiscal times, with the EU under excessive fiscal measures, the government seeking tens of billions of euros for fiscal consolidation, and an increase in education spending.
The EU treaty sets standard values for government deficits at 3% of GDP and government debt at 60%. Last year, France’s budget deficit reached 5.1% of GDP, and the debt-to-GDP ratio reached 119% by the end of June.
Concerns about France’s huge debt mountain, budget deficit and political divisions that are an obstacle to reducing both have soured investor sentiment in France this year, with bond markets demanding higher lending premiums for the government.
Yields on French government bonds are currently hovering near multi-decade highs, making the government’s borrowing costs among the highest in the Group of Seven developed economies.
France’s benchmark 10-year OAT yield is trading at 4.914%, up 139 basis points from 12 months ago and close to its highest level in 24 years.
