France offers 3,000 extra teachers as nearly 7,000 are arrested and student protests rage into fourth week

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026 · last updated 10 October 2026.

France's education minister Edouard Geffray has promised to deploy 3,000 substitute teachers to the worst-affected schools in a first concession to protesters, but student unions have dismissed the offer as "a few crumbs" and called another nationwide demonstration for Tuesday. Nearly 7,000 people have been taken into police custody since protests began in mid-September, 86% of them under 18. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has pledged a full plan to address the crisis by the end of October, while the UN says it is monitoring the violence "with concern".

A 15-year-old boy had his hand blown off near Auguste Béhal high school in Lens after picking up a police stun grenade.

Far-left activists and Antifa-linked extremists have joined students in clashes with riot police, with schools set on fire and a deputy head beaten up in Marseille.

Student union representative Marius Mesnil called the government's concessions the "bare minimum" and vowed to keep fighting to scrap university admissions platform Parcoursup.