'Everyone hates the police' – what France's school protests reveal about a divided nation

What the report says

Students and teachers have been protesting across France over conditions in secondary schools, with demonstrations becoming a wider flashpoint in the country’s increasingly polarised politics, BBC World News reported. The unrest began at the Lycée Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry in Créteil, a suburb of Paris, and spread nationally, with pupils citing staff shortages, overcrowding, poor facilities and long school days. Images and videos shared on social media of damaged classrooms, broken toilets and mould have helped turn the issue into a symbol of frustration about the state of public services.

The BBC said the protests have drawn hundreds of thousands of people, though official and union estimates differ, and they have occasionally turned violent. Police and protesters have both reported injuries, while the interior ministry has said nearly 7,000 people have been detained, most of them young people. Rights groups and unions have accused police of heavy-handed tactics, while police representatives say agitators and political tensions have made crowd control difficult. A 15-year-old boy in Lens was seriously injured during a confrontation, and police later banned stun grenades at school protests.

The government has begun offering concessions, including a pledge to add 3,000 supply teachers and a promise of a broader response plan by the end of October. Even so, many students and teachers interviewed by the BBC said they remain unconvinced the crisis will be fixed quickly. The protests are also feeding into France’s broader political divide ahead of the next presidential contest, with figures on the hard left and hard right seeking to use the unrest to their advantage.