The French government has taken a first tangible step toward quelling student unrest by pledging 3,000 extra supply teachers in the coming days, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced on national television after a week of heated demonstrations by high‑school students.
According to the Ministry, 6,877 arrests have been recorded since the protests began, 86 % of them minors, as pupils demanded more resources for secondary education. That week’s “Act Four” saw 71,000 people march across France, with 24,000 gathering at the Bastille in Paris before police used tear‑gas to disperse crowds that had engaged in vandalism.
In Bordeaux a lycée was ransacked, in Marseille a deputy‑head was beaten, and 140 schools closed partly or wholly in the days that followed. On Friday, a new round of actions was called for, targeting the next Tuesday.
The minister explained that new software at the Ministry will allow 3,000 supply teachers to be routed to roughly five hundred lycées in the greatest need—many of them in high‑immigration suburbs where teacher shortages are most acute. He also promised that overtime pay will be increased for teachers who step in during gaps, and that student concerns will be factored into the 2027 state‑budget discussions.
Student union leaders remain cautious. Nathanaël Combary, head of the moderate Lycée Renewal group, said the government had delivered some of the demands, but “people want to see the money and more concrete results.” Sabrine Kharbach of the radical‑left Union Etudiante stated, “As long as we do not have €10 bn on the table, we will continue our action.”
Political reaction varied. Jean‑Luc Mélenchon congratulated the protests as “a retake of the Bastille,” while a National Rally spokesman warned that the government’s concessions amounted to a legitimisation of violence.
The unrest comes at a time of broader public discontent over rising fuel prices, agricultural distress and the looming presidential election, with the government hoping that holidays, colder weather and the declining pace of demonstrations will dampen the protests.
