Future French Doctors and Engineers Burn Down Their Schools to Protest Lack of Resources

PARIS — Groups of French high-school students widely expected to become the nation’s next generation of physicians and civil engineers set fire to multiple lycées this week, citing chronic shortages of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and crumbling infrastructure.

You can just hear them: “This is such a poor learning environment. Let’s burn it down!”

The movement began in late September in Paris-area suburbs and quickly spread nationwide, affecting hundreds of lycées. Students have demanded more teaching staff, smaller class sizes, better resources, and improved infrastructure. Many cited classrooms of 30 to 35 or more students, frequent unreplaced teacher absences, leaking roofs, inadequate ventilation, and other facility problems, particularly in under-resourced areas.

Interior Ministry figures showed hundreds of arrests on peak days, with totals climbing into the thousands over the course of the unrest, the majority involving minors. Dozens of police officers and school staff have been injured. Fires damaged school entrances and surrounding areas in several cities, and authorities reported projectiles thrown at officers and instances of attempted arson.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray said some protests had been joined by non-students and described the situation in places as having shifted toward public-order disturbances. Student representatives and unions have largely focused on the educational demands and distanced themselves from the violence. Officials linked part of the escalation to broader political tensions and the government’s draft budget, which includes a below-inflation increase in education spending amid wider fiscal restraint.

Classes at affected schools have been disrupted or moved online in some cases. The government has indicated it is reviewing the students’ concerns and has proposed consultation channels, while police continue efforts to restore order around the remaining blockades.