France halts use of stun grenades in policing of student protests

The French government said on Wednesday it was pausing the use of stun grenades in its policing of student protests, after a 15-year-old boy’s hand was blown off during a clash with riot police, fuelling protesters’ accusations of police brutality.

Protests showed no sign of easing, with more than 500 schools closed a day after demonstrations swept across the country, and unions representing high-school students, teachers and other workers planning more marches for Thursday.

The ‌wave of protests has been going on for more than two weeks and has exposed widespread public anger six months ahead of an election to replace President Emmanuel Macron.

At Lycee Lamartine, a high school in central Paris, protesters sang the Marseillaise, chanted slogans and performed Mexican waves as they blockaded the entrance to the school.

“We saw there were lots of crumbling walls, a shortage of teachers in public schools, absent teachers,” said Gabriel Fillieule, who used to attend a public school but now goes to a private one. He and others said they were protesting to demand better learning conditions for all.

While most of Wednesday’s blockades were peaceful, police used tear gas and pushed back protesters in a ⁠street barricaded by rubbish bins outside Sciences Po university in central Paris.

Rights groups, labour unions, students and some opposition politicians have accused the police of using disproportionate force to quell the wave of protests.

Interior ‌Minister Laurent Nunez said he had ordered the suspension of the use of stun grenades following an incident in the northern city of Lens on Monday in which there was a “strong possibility” the firing of a stun grenade had caused a teenager to lose his hand.

“I am suspending their use for the ‌high school students’ movement until light has been shed on what happened in this case,” said the minister, who added that 18 incidents in total had been referred to ⁠the police inspectorate for investigation.

Protesters have said ⁠they blame poor learning conditions for a sharp drop in French teenagers’ scores in reading and maths over the past decade.

French 15-year-olds scored 43 points lower in reading in 2025 than in 2015, according to the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, the ‌biggest drop among the OECD countries. Their maths scores also dropped the most.

But the government, under pressure to tame public debt amid weak growth, has little spare cash to address students’ complaints of teacher shortages, ageing school buildings and inequalities between schools in affluent ‌and poor ‌areas.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has acknowledged the “legitimate” demands of France’s students but also described the unrest as the most violent student demonstrations in decades.

Education ‌Minister Edouard Geffray told parliament that 24 high schools had been damaged by fire or vandalism to the extent that they would remain closed for weeks, meaning some 30,000 students would receive no in-person ⁠teaching until they reopened.

He estimated it would cost €20 million to €30 million (US$22 million to US$34 million) to fix the damage.

Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, the front runner according to opinion polls, said those who damaged schools ⁠should pay for the repairs rather than taxpayers.

The government has adopted a similar stance and has a bill going through parliament that aims to set up such a system.

Elsewhere in Europe, where budgets have been under pressure as governments respond to successive cost-of-living and energy crises, students in parts of Belgium staged similar protests.

In the Belgian ‌city of Liege in the southern French-speaking Wallonia region, ‌at least 107 people had been arrested in connection with student protests this month, the Belga news agency reported.

Teachers are also on strike.

In Portugal, the main teachers’ union FENPROF launched an indefinite strike in mid-September over working conditions, with teachers refusing to do any unpaid work beyond the 35 hours a week mandated by law.

And in Spain, teachers’ unions have been protesting against conditions in state schools. Teachers in Madrid plan a strike on October 14 to press demands including a reduction in hours, smaller class sizes and higher salaries.