Over 400,000 March Across France Against School Funding Shortfalls and Rising Living Costs

More than 400,000 people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest inadequate school funding and soaring living costs, posing a fresh challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s government in the final months of his presidency.

The Interior Ministry put the nationwide turnout at 410,000, including 110,000 in Paris. Clashes erupted as the Paris march neared its end at Porte de Vincennes. Some protesters threw projectiles while police responded with tear gas and water cannons. The Paris prosecutor’s office reported 64 arrests linked to the demonstration, with 40 people placed in custody. Those detained included six minors, mostly on suspicion of weapons offences or involvement in groups preparing violence or property damage.

Authorities had restricted the capital’s march to the city’s southeastern edge to keep protesters away from central areas damaged during last weekend’s unrest. Elsewhere, police used tear gas in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, Strasbourg and Marseille, and water cannons in Nice and Nantes.

The protests began last month over staff shortages at a high school southeast of Paris and have since spread nationwide. Students are demanding better schools, while workers seek higher wages and improved pensions. Public middle and high schools lost 15.4 million teaching hours in the 2024-25 school year because absent teachers were not replaced, equating to 7.5% of scheduled teaching time.

Trade unions led the processions. Student groups are calling for 250,000 additional places in higher education, an end to the current university admissions system, more teachers, school repairs, higher student grants and a rent freeze in public student housing. Energy prices were 21.3% higher in September than a year earlier, contributing to overall inflation of 3.1%.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had deployed up to 70,000 officers nationwide, supported by helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons. Major museums in Paris, including the Louvre and Orsay, remained closed on Saturday. Organisers from the yellow vest movement have called for another day of rallies on October 31.

The unrest is testing Macron’s authority ahead of the May presidential election, with the far-right National Rally accusing the government of failing to protect the public.