Hand of student, 15, blown off by grenade, fires, tear gas: Here's what's happening in France

Students in France have taken to the streets over the past several weeks to protest what they say are terrible conditions at schools, including overcrowded classrooms and a lack of consistent teachers.

Amid the massive protests — which some estimates say have drawn roughly 250,000 people — dozens of schools have been set on fire, thousands have been arrested and hundreds of police officers have been injured. One student told BBC News that the police are escalating the situation and their response has been violent.

What’s happening with France’s student protests?

A 15-year-old student reportedly had his hand blown off by a stun grenade deployed by police. A source told RFI that the student grabbed the grenade and it exploded while he was holding it.

As a result, Interior Minister of France Laurent Nuñez has suspended the use of such grenades, he told RTL .

The suspension only applies to the “high school student protests,” said Nuñez, “just long enough to understand what happened.”

After reports circulated that another student was at risk of losing her eye due to tear gas, French police posted on X saying that those rumours were fake.

At least 215 students have been injured since the protests began, according to The Guardian .

Police said on Tuesday alone 488 people were arrested and 43 police officers were injured, France24 reported . There have been 18 internal probes launched in response to allegations of police brutality since the end of September.

The Education Ministry said 528 high schools were “totally or partially suspended” on Wednesday, France24 reported.

Scenes in Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon, among other cities, showed hundreds to thousands of students, along with teachers and other protesters, voicing how fed up they were with the school system.

Police used tear gas and water canons , in some cases, to break up clashes and riots. Protesters can be seen in videos and photos setting bins on fire and throwing objects.

What do France’s leaders say about the student protests?

After weeks of protests, Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray said in a post on X on Oct. 1 that the “acts of violence” committed that morning “far exceed the sole issue” of schools. He mentioned a high school set on fire and “staff doused with gasoline.”

In a post on Wednesday, he said he was “ready to debate everything — from the resources to the choices regarding our school system — but no grievance can justify targeting the very people who keep it running.”

In a televised address to the nation, France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the “anger of young people does not come from nowhere” while also defending how the police have responded to the protests.

Student unions are still demanding a meeting with him.

Lecornu said in a post on Wednesday that “high school students’ voices are precious and must be heard.” He shared a link to a form that could be filled out by students to air their grievances. It has already received 30,000 contributions that he said would “feed into a concrete action plan.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said at the end of September that he understands “the anxiety, the anger” of the students but “none of these fears justifies violence. And on no account… can political leaders legitimize violence,” Le Monde reported .

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry has summoned Iran’s ambassador, saying there has been an Iranian disinformation campaign targeting the student protest movement by distributing false information online, France24 reported .

How did the student protests in France start?

Students and teachers in Créteil, a Parisian suburb, began protesting about teaching vacancies on Sept. 21, Le Monde reported . Eventually, their demands were met, according to CNN , and more resources and staff were sent to the school, which ended the protest.

But other schools had already caught on and rallies broke out across France.

Students decried the poor conditions in classrooms, saying it was freezing in the winter and extremely hot in the summer. They said class sizes sometimes reached up to 40 students and there was a lack of consistent teachers available.

“We want the government to invest more in the schools,” one student told BBC News . Another student said there were leaks in the ceilings and rats in the buildings. BBC reported that another issue was the fact that students believed the exam to gain entry into university was “discriminatory” and favoured wealthier students.

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