Student loses hand in French school protests as unrest spreads

A 15-year-old student protesting against France’s dilapidated and understaffed schools lost his hand on Monday after picking up a police stun grenade in the northern town of Lens, a local official told reporters. An investigation has been opened into the incident, the official added. The incident came as hundreds of French schools entered a second consecutive week of closures, a day ahead of a nationwide day of nationwide demonstrations.

About 400 to 500 high schools remained fully or partially closed on Monday out of a total of 3,700, French education minister Edouard Geffray said. Geffray said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked and 78 teaching staff had been injured since demonstrations began at a high school in a Paris suburb over teacher shortages before spreading nationwide. The protests come as the government of President Emmanuel Macron seeks to push through a deficit-reduction budget for 2027. France’s 10-year bond yield briefly topped 5% last week, its highest level since 2002.

Police-students clash in multiple cities

On Monday, clashes broke out between police and students in Lille in northern France, the country's third-largest city, while tear gas was deployed in Toulouse in the southwest. Broadcaster BMFTV also showed a fire being lit as protesters attempted to break into a school in central Paris. Police and firefighters quickly extinguished the capital blaze. The school was evacuated and classes were suspended. Around 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested nationwide since last Monday, with dozens injured. Teachers and members of the public have also been attacked, while property damage is estimated to have reached tens of millions of euros.

Paris police chief Patrice Faure, in an open letter published on X, claimed that those who initially launched the protests no longer had control over them and urged students to abandon blockades in favour of peaceful demonstrations. Student unions have nevertheless called for a nationwide day of demonstrations on Tuesday. Security officials fear that an organised protest, particularly in central Paris, could lead to further violence amid concerns that far-left and anarchist groups may attempt to take over the protests. CGT union chief Sophie Binet told TF1 television on Monday that CGT members would attend Tuesday's demonstrations "to protect high school students." "We've been appalled by what we have seen over the past 10 days and by the unprecedented crackdown that the government has organised against the protests by high school students," Binet said.