Tear Gas Fired Across France as Nationwide Student School Protests Escalate

Hundreds of thousands of high school students, supported by parents, university students, and labor unions, took to the streets across France on Tuesday in an escalating nationwide movement dubbed "Act Three." Demonstrations disrupted education in hundreds of institutions, demanding increased funding, repaired infrastructure, and an end to heavy-handed police tactics. Riot police deployed tear gas in Paris and Marseille and water cannon in Rennes as tensions flared, though widespread riots were largely averted compared to previous days.

Official figures from the French government indicated that more than 250,000 demonstrators mobilized, affecting 891 high schools—nearly a quarter of all lycées nationwide. Conversely, student unions claimed turnout reached 450,000, reporting blockades at roughly 1,800 schools. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned the unrest, stating that 215 students, 85 staff members, and 715 police officers have suffered injuries since protests began. "Most of us aren't violent," said Alissa, a protesting student in Marseille. "We're going to the streets because they've closed our schools... schools are falling apart."

Public outrage has mounted following accusations of disproportionate police force, which are now being formally investigated by the IGPN police inspectorate. A police officer was recently charged with violence resulting in permanent disability after a tear-gas canister fractured the jaw and shattered the teeth of a 14-year-old student outside Paris. In another severe incident in Lens, a 15-year-old boy lost his hand due to an exploding anti-encirclement grenade during confrontations between officers and stone-throwing youth. The interior ministry confirmed that 6,547 individuals have been detained or questioned since September 28.

The widespread mobilization originally ignited in mid-September over underfunded, overcrowded, and deteriorating educational facilities in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis before ballooning into a broader national crisis. Support has broadened across demographics, drawing retiree teachers and trade unions into the fold alongside youth. With demonstrators vowing to sustain their blockades until substantial educational reforms and state investments are enacted, the French government faces mounting pressure to address systemic grievances and de-escalate security measures.