France Sees Largest Student Protest Since 1968

PARIS (09-06) – Students at various high school and university campuses across Paris rallied today as part of a nationwide demonstration and protest that included a march from the Place de la République to the Place de la Nation.

One large group of several hundred students began their day by attending a rally outside the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts which included a street blockade and sit-in outside of the school gates before marching across the city under a heavy police presence to join the massive protest originating from all parts of Paris and its suburbs.

Various speakers at the rally called for coordination and solidarity with high school and university students, faculty, parents, and the Interco Federation Union of local government workers that represents civil servants in creating an effective strategy moving forward to resolve students’ fundamental demands regarding the inequities of school funding, quality of education, physical plant facilities and long school days among other issues.

During the rally, speakers advised the crowd that “university closures and the shift to remote learning should be avoided and viewed as obstacles to organization…and that they needed to devise a strategy to see that schools remain open so that they could act as hubs for organization.”

Also discussed was the coordinated blockading of major throughfares such as Boulevard Saint Germain, etc. along with protesting at the Assembly Nationale and outside of government ministries in efforts to pressure the government to end the growing crisis in favor of long overdue education reforms.

As an estimated 56,000 people rallied peacefully, there were some among them who used violence with whom police engaged resulting in their using tear gas and crowd dispersal grenades. As the day grew to a close, police escalated their crowd control measures to end a worsening situation.

This, while in the Assembly Nationale members debated the situation with some calling for police to employ any means necessary to put down the protest while others criticized them for using server tactics against the students.

Unfortunately, during a protest yesterday in northern France a teenage student had his hand blown off by a police grenade in an incident that has yet to be fully explained.

What began as a modest protest by young people has now become a national crisis with demonstrations in 40 cities. The largest of which in decades is taking place in Paris bringing a new dimension to youth empowerment by standing up to the government while calling for significant changes to finally be made. One protest sign said that the holder was now “Woke” and there was no going back.

The number and size of protests here have had a major impact on the city overall by disrupting traffic and public transportation along with the closing of shops and businesses in many areas.

One reaction to the protests has been that the Assembly Nationale is considering a vote for a“casseurs-payeurs” (“vandals must pay”) bill scheduled for a vote later this month which would allow prosecutors to charge students and adults convicted of property damage to pay as much as €10,000 in restitution even if they are “not personally responsible” for causing it. The cost of restitution could include, for those unable to pay, a reduction in public benefits, costs to be paid by parents, and for students to work without pay through public service.

Critics of the bill see it as an attack against the right to demonstrate, attend or participate in demonstrations, thus depriving them of their right to assemble and protest.

Attempting to head off more confrontations and further chaos, President Macron held a crisis meeting this evening with the Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Education Minister Edouard Geffray, and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to address the students’ concerns in ending the growing protests and to keep the movement from growing from the general public discontent of escalating costs of living and fuel prices.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

© 2026 nuzeink all rights reserved worldwide