A violent classroom revolt is becoming France's next big crisis

• More than 400 French schools closed Friday amid nationwide unrest.
• Students are protesting poor facilities, long days and teacher shortages.
• The unrest comes as France seeks a major fiscal adjustment in its 2027 budget.

Students gather during a demonstration near Lycée Deodat high school in Toulouse, south-western France, on Oct. 1, 2026. Ed Jones | Afp | Getty Images

Hundreds of schools were closed across France on Friday, after a swathe of student protests turned violent.

More than 400 schools were shut in the aftermath of the rallies, which saw thousands of students mobilize to voice their discontent with run-down school buildings, long days and teacher shortages.

French high school days can stretch from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., depending on timetables.

The country's Interior Ministry reportedly said 1,027 of France's roughly 3,700 lycées, or high schools, were affected Thursday, including 222 that were blockaded.

Students carry out a blocking protest at the Cesar Baggio secondary school in Lille on September 29, 2026.Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty Images

The rallies turned increasingly violent this week, with some protesters clashing with police and setting fire to schools and vehicles. Dozens of educational staff, hundreds of police officers and more than 100 pupils are said to have been injured since the protests began, according to the French press.

Protests were held across the country as the movement, which began in Paris, spread nationwide.

Anti-riot police officers face protesting students carrying out blockading action outside the secondary school Le Corbusier, in Aubervilliers, northern Paris on October 1, 2026. Lou Benoist | Afp | Getty Images

Although Education Minister Édouard Geffray said in an interview that the movement was "legitimate at the outset," France's Interior Ministry said Thursday the unrest "no longer has anything to do with the legitimate expression of high-school students' demands."

The ministry described the situation as having the characteristics of "urban violence," according to French newspaper Le Monde.

Geffray is scheduled to meet with teachers' unions, student representatives and parents' groups on Friday.

Budget cuts

The unrest is adding to a major political headache for the government, which is about to start tough budget negotiations against a backdrop of division and economic turmoil.

Jules Ferry Middle and High School in the 9th arrondissement of Paris students block the entrance and chant anti-government slogans during a protest on Oct.1, 2026 in Paris, France. Antoine Gyori | Corbis News | Getty Images

Officials presented a draft budget on Thursday, and the government is now tasked with convincing lawmakers in the politically fractured National Assembly to agree to the plans.

Following a crisis meeting, the Prime Minister's Office said intelligence services viewed the movement as a "maneuver organized by LFI and its ultra-left proxies," according to Reuters.

Some members of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party have publicly backed the student protests.

CNBC reached out to the LFI party and the Prime Minister's Office for comment.

Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters on Thursday that the 2027 budget was targeting a fiscal adjustment worth 54 billion euros ($60.8 billion). Cuts are planned to come, in part, from freezing wages for public sector workers like teachers.

The European Union's second-largest economy has repeatedly broken the bloc's rules on budget deficits and debt limits. Successive prime ministers have been ousted after failed attempts at reform, spending cuts and tax rises to bring the situation under control.

But with France under the EU's excessive deficit procedure and the government seeking tens of billions of euros in fiscal consolidation, demands for greater education spending come at a difficult time for the public finances.

EU treaties set reference values of 3% of GDP for government deficits and 60% for government debt. Last year, France's deficit reached 5.1% of GDP, while its debt-to-GDP ratio hit 119% by the end of June.

Concerns over France's huge debt pile and budget deficit — and political divisions presenting an obstacle to reducing both — have soured investor sentiment the country this year, with bond markets demanding increasing premiums to lend to the government.

Yields on French government bonds are now trading near multi-decade highs, with government borrowing costs now among the highest in the G7 group of advanced economies.

The yield on France's benchmark 10-year OAT was trading at 4.914% – 139 basis points higher than where it was 12 months ago and close to a 24-year high.

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