France's student protest movement escalated into a full-blown political crisis on Monday, as far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon urged his supporters to join nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday backing students who are blockading hundreds of high schools — while the government accused him and his France Unbowed movement of inciting the violence.
In a nearly 20-minute video published Monday, the 75-year-old Mélenchon called the unrest "the most powerful movement of high school and college students it has seen since May 1968," referring to the massive demonstrations almost 60 years ago that fundamentally reshaped French society. He shrugged off accusations from the government and right-wing politicians that he is instigating violence, calling the allegation "absurd," and urged more people to come out in support of students.
The Government's Counterattack
The response from the state was swift. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office said the government and intelligence agencies "shared the assessment" that France Unbowed and its ideological allies helped foment the student protests — an accusation Mélenchon denies.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said Sunday that vandalism or arson incidents had occurred at 24 protests last week, that blockades had taken place at 400 to 500 high schools — about 10 percent of France's total — and that 24 schools had been "burned or ransacked" since the movement began. He also said 78 employees of the national education system had been injured. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told CNews television on Monday: "Our priority is to restore order."
The protests began in late September at a high school in a Paris suburb, when students and teachers blockaded schools demanding more funding and better working conditions — citing teacher absences, overcrowded classes of 35 to 40 pupils, dilapidated buildings and schools ill-adapted to rising temperatures. The Macron administration tried to defuse the movement on Friday with measures including a plan to accelerate the replacement of absent teachers, but student organizations judged the promises insufficient and called for the protests to be intensified starting Tuesday.
Violence and the Policing Question
The human cost has sharpened the dispute. A 15-year-old lost a hand in the northern town of Lens on Monday when a sting-ball grenade fired by riot police exploded, according to a police union source; he was hospitalized in Lille and is "out of danger," said Pas-de-Calais prefect François-Xavier Lauch. Another protester, aged 16, suffered serious head injuries in Tours and has lost the use of one eye, prosecutors said.
The government says 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured since the movement began, and that 10 investigations have been opened by the police watchdog. Rights groups see it differently: the French Human Rights League (LDH) president Nathalie Tehio accused security forces of using disproportionate methods against protesters, many of them legally minors — "we can see that in the instructions given to the police, there is no directive to show restraint, even though they are dealing with children." Amnesty International said student protesters "must be listened to, not repressed," while CGT union head Sophie Binet denounced an "unprecedented crackdown" against high school students.
On the other side, Paris police chief Patrice Faure published an open letter on Saturday saying those who had launched the protests no longer controlled them, calling on students to abandon blockades in favor of peaceful protest. About 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested since last Monday, according to figures reported by BFMTV.
What Tuesday Brings — and Why It Matters
The student union has dubbed Tuesday's mobilization "Act III," with social media calls mounting for a "black week" of protests — and labor and teachers' unions are expected to join the demonstrations. The unrest is now unfolding just months before the 2027 election that will determine the successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, turning every clash into campaign ammunition.
Takeaway: France is split down the middle — between a government determined to restore order and accusing the far left of fomenting chaos, and a movement of students, unions and rights groups accusing the state of answering teenagers' grievances with force. Tuesday will show which side blinks first.
Reel music credit: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Politico Europe (via Scoop) · AFP (via Jamaica Observer) · Reuters (via TimesLIVE) · France24 (via ABP Live)