France promises 3,000 extra teachers in first step to calm student protests

ByHugh Schofield in Paris.

Key points

• On Friday, some 140 lycées – out of 3, 500 – were totally or partially closed, a major drop on previous days.
• "As long as we do not have €10bn on the table, we will continue our action, " remarked Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Etudiante (Student Union).
• And he promised that students' grievances would be taken into account in forthcoming discussions on the education section of the 2027 state budget.
• Next Saturday, 17 October, has been earmarked as a day of demonstrations by a revived "yellow vest" movement.
• Education minister Edouard Geffray created the offer in a television interview on Thursday evening, at the end of another day of sometimes violent demonstrations by high-school students.

Notably, the French administration has produced its first sign of giving ground to teenage protesters, with a promise of 3, 000 extra supply teachers over the next few days.

Since protests began centred around demands for more resources in secondary education, the administration states 6, 877 individuals have been arrested, 86% of whom are under the age of 18.

In what unions have billed as Act Four of the three-week movement, some 71, 000 individuals staged protests nationwide on Thursday, with 24, 000 gathering at the Bastille in Paris.

Police once again intervened with tear-gas to disperse groups who attacked them with paving stones and homemade fireworks.

In Bordeaux, a lycée, or high school, was ransacked by protesters, and in Marseille a deputy-head was beaten up.

On Friday, some 140 lycées – out of 3, 500 – were totally or partially closed, a major drop on previous days. But another day of action has been pressed next Tuesday. France's school protests: What lies behind the anger. Geffray's announcement was the first material concession to the protesters' complaints.

It has long been recognised by all concerned in French education that too plenty of school hours are being lost as of absent teachers and their non-replacement by available supply staff.

According to The minister, thanks to new software coming online at the ministry, it would be feasible to direct 3, 000 supply teachers to the 500 or so lycées identified as being in the greatest need.

Plenty of of these schools are probable to be in high-immigration city suburbs, where the lack of teachers is most acute.

According to Geffray additionally, more funds would be produced available under an already existing scheme for those teachers who want to work overtime hours so as to plug gaps.

But the offer contained no major promise of new investment on a scale probable to appease protesters.

For context, the administration is wary of appearing to purchase social peace since it knows France's precarious debt situation is being followed closely by international capital markets. Reaction from student leaders has been guarded to say the least.

Nathanaël Combary, who represents the most moderate of the three main lycée unions Renouveau Lycéen (Lycée Renewal), remarked students were waiting to see how the promise was carried out in practice: "We've had some announcements which correspond to part of our demands. But obviously individuals want to see the capital and more concrete results."

"As long as we do not have €10bn on the table, we will continue our action, " remarked Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Etudiante (Student Union). It is close to the radical-left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party of presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Mélenchon praised Thursday's demonstrations, saying on X that the students had "retaken the Bastille".

But at the other end of the political spectrum, a spokesman for the hard-right National Rally (RN) condemned the government's concessions.

"The message is: if you break things, you get given stuff, " remarked Laurent Jacobelli. "When you burn cars, attack police, you gain something in return. It's the legitimisation of violence."

Meanwhile, the movement is the most serious student unrest in France in plenty of years, and comes against a backdrop of rising tension in the country – with anger over rising fuel costs and distress in the farming sector additionally liable to trigger protests.

Furthermore, the approach of presidential elections in April and May – in which both hard right and hard left are projected to perform strongly – is exacerbating the mood of confrontation.

In practice, the administration is hoping that the approach of half-term holidays at the end of next week – as well as the arrival of colder and wetter weather – will take some of the sting out of the protests.

For now, france promises 3, 000 extra teachers in first step to calm student protests remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.