Police clashed with demonstrators this afternoon, local time, near the Place de la Bastille in Paris, where thousands of pupils were protesting over conditions in the country’s schools, according to footage published by Reuters TV.

The footage shows riot police striking a group of demonstrators with batons as they charge to clear people from the square.

Tens of thousands of young people flooded the French capital’s streets once again today, demanding funding for education after two weeks of protests across France and government measures that have been judged inadequate.

The inter-union group representing students and professionals has already called for a new day of protests and a strike on 13 October.

🇫🇷 Mobilisation lycéenne à Paris : des dizaines de milliers de manifestants mobilisés dans la capitale La foule a d’abord été nassée par les forces de l’ordre, avant d’être exposée à des gaz lacrymogènes https://t.co/JlIXEQTsCW

— Anadolu Français (@anadolufrancais) October 8, 2026

‘Until we have €10 billion on the table, we will keep up the protests,’ said Sabrine Karbas, press spokesperson for the Student Union, shortly before she and representatives of the two other largest pupil organisations were received by the ministers for education and higher education.

At the same time, tens of thousands of people had gathered in the emblematic Place de la Bastille, while marches wound through streets across the capital. ‘Gen Z is furious,’ read a large banner held by young people.

Demonstrators also filled the streets of other cities, from Lille in the north to Rennes and Nantes in the west, and Toulon and Marseille in the south.

The protests were largely peaceful, although there were scuffles between demonstrators and police at several points in Paris and Nantes, and police used water cannon in Rennes.

Diane Di Sciullo, a secondary school teacher, joined pupils on a large march in Marseille, saying their central demand was a decent education in decent conditions. She condemned overcrowding in classrooms, pointing out that she had 37 pupils in her class this year.

‘At the start of every lesson, I have to ask them to check other classrooms for spare chairs and desks where they can sit,’ she explained.

The 28-year-old teacher carried a placard reading: ‘I’m a teacher and my pupils help me catch cockroaches in the classroom.’

Promises of urgent action

Figures released by the French education ministry suggest the number of blockaded schools is gradually falling. It said 224 remained closed this morning, falling to 157 by midday, meaning 96% of schools were open.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray said, after meeting pupils and teachers in Rennes, that an emergency plan would be introduced to ensure absent teachers are replaced, while the heavy school curriculum would also be reviewed.

It is not unusual for teenagers in France to have lessons from 8am to 6pm, as well as a large volume of homework.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu pledged late last night that the government would present ‘specific, immediate and fully funded responses’ to the protests by the end of October, without giving further details.

Student leaders said this was not enough and called for new marches next Tuesday. Meanwhile, calls are circulating online for a day of protest on 17 October.

‘Our demands must be heard. Yesterday, Lecornu gave us plenty of words with no substance,’ said Riad Rani, leader of one of the student unions.

‘The mobilisation will continue. We are not backing down on anything.’