Fire set at Paris high school as student protests spark nationwide school closures
Rioters ignited the entrance of Vauquelin High School in Paris, trapping teachers and pupils while mass student protests continue across France.
Early on Monday, a group of rioters set fire to the entrance of Vauquelin High School in Paris, leaving teachers and pupils trapped inside and requiring the evacuation of roughly 100 students. Video footage showed flames licking the doors, while two men attempted unsuccessfully to extinguish the blaze. Parallel incidents unfolded at Gaston-Berger High School in Lille and Victor Hugo High School in Caen, where bonfires were built and gates set alight.
The violence is part of a broader wave of student protests that began in late September over school conditions, prompting the closure of 400 to 500 high schools nationwide. The French government announced a draft law that could deduct repair costs from parents' family benefits, aiming to impose collective responsibility. So far, about 5,000 protesters have been detained, 78 education staff injured, and property damage estimated in the tens of millions of euros.
Why it matters
The attacks highlight France's deepening education crisis and the government's push for tougher liability measures amid widespread unrest.
How this story developed
- Sep 28 Education Minister urges calm as high-school blockades turn violent in Île-de-France
- Sep 28 Ministers issued a warning that police will intervene if the blockades become violent.
- Sep 29 Around ten Paris high schools faced blockage attempts on Tuesday with no reported violence or injuries.
- Sep 30 Authorities reported 440 arrests and 76 injuries as blockades spread to hundreds of schools.
- Oct 1 Arrests rose to 625 and a fire broke out at the Nelson‑Mandela lycée in Nantes.
- Oct 1 Mass arrests were made during French school demonstrations, with hundreds of police and gendarmes injured and many schools closed.
- Oct 2 Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting in response to the escalating protests.
- Oct 3 Students set fires and sprayed petrol on a teacher during the latest clashes.
- Oct 4 The unrest has crossed the border into Belgium, affecting schools in Liège.
- Oct 4 The French education ministry announced that between 400 and 500 secondary schools will be fully or partially closed on Monday because of ongoing teenage protests.
- Oct 4 Student bodies are preparing a fresh nationwide mobilisation on Tuesday.
- Oct 4 The education ministry announced the planned suspension of classes at up to 500 schools for Monday.
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