Teacher shortages, say Der Standard and Svenska Dagbladet; terror chants and an LFI-linked leader, says Le Figaro

The cause. Der Standard says thousands protested "gegen den Lehrermangel und den maroden Zustand von Schulgebäuden". That means against the teacher shortage and run-down school buildings. NOS lists overcrowded classes, too few teachers and heavy workloads. Svenska Dagbladet quotes Mélisande, 16: "brist på material, brist på lärare och dåliga lokaler". In English: too few materials, too few teachers, poor buildings.

The disorder. Le Figaro ran four pieces on the same day. None of the four opening passages we read says what the pupils want.

The injured. NOS says dozens were hurt and thousands arrested. It reports that a 15-year-old lost a hand in Lens when a flash grenade exploded. It does not say who fired it. Le Figaro names Eden, who was badly hurt. The police inspectorate is investigating violence with a weapon by a person holding public authority. Le Figaro also reports a pupil taken ill with convulsions during clashes with police in Noisy-le-Grand. It names no one as the cause.

What is not settled. Who fired the grenade in Lens. Whether Eden and the pupil in Lens are the same person; no report says. Only Le Figaro reports the chant in Beaugency. No report gives an official count of the injured or the arrested.

What this is. Secondary-school pupils across France have been blockading their schools and marching since late September. They are protesting about conditions in their schools.

How it got here. French lycée pupils have a long habit of acting together. Blocking the school gates, called a blocus, is a familiar form of protest. Pupil movements have often drawn national attention and clashes with police. This wave began in late September 2026. NOS says it is about overcrowded classes, too few teachers and heavy workloads. Der Standard adds the run-down state of school buildings. Some marches have ended in clashes with police, in Strasbourg, Lyon and the Paris suburbs among other places.

The actors. - The pupils, mostly aged 15 to 18, and their unions. The Union syndicale lycéenne is one of those unions. Its president, Ryad Rani, is 19 and one of the movement's main spokesmen. - La France Insoumise (LFI), the left-wing party founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Its MEPs sit with The Left in the European Parliament. Le Figaro describes Rani as close to the party. - The police, and the IGPN. The IGPN is the national police's own inspectorate, which investigates complaints against officers. - Prosecutors. In France, praising terrorism (apologie du terrorisme) is a crime. Mohamed Merah killed seven people in Toulouse and Montauban in 2012. Salah Abdeslam is the only surviving member of the cells behind the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015. He was convicted in 2022.

What is at stake. The two complaints land on different parts of the state. The national state employs teachers. The regions are responsible for lycée buildings. Whether the public sees the movement as a fight over teachers and buildings or as disorder shapes the answer: money, or policing.

Where it stands. The protests went on through 6 October. Two inquiries are open. One is into an injury to a pupil, with the police inspectorate in charge. The other is into the chant, opened by prosecutors. A Dutch school has cancelled a trip to France because of the unrest.