How France's unrest began: a timeline from the Créteil school protest to the October 17 riots

The unrest that ended in nationwide riots on October 17 began a month earlier as a protest by high school students over the state of their schools, according to Euronews and Northeastern Global News. Both date the start to September 17 in Créteil, south-east of Paris, where pupils at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry joined teachers protesting about staffing, overcrowding and building conditions. Videos of the protests spread on social media and drew in students elsewhere, Euronews reports.

Other outlets describe the origin more broadly. Al Jazeera says the protests began in Paris's poorest suburbs, and France 24 says the first blockades were in France's overseas territories and under-served Paris suburbs.

Late September: blockades spread

By September 30 the education ministry said about 400 of France's roughly 3,700 lycées were affected, Al Jazeera reported. The protest coincided with a public-sector strike on September 29 against the government's 2027 budget, which includes 54 billion euros of cuts and savings and a proposed freeze on civil servants' base pay. On September 29 protesters set bins alight outside a Lille high school and threw objects at police, and clashes were reported in Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon and Marseille. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told BFM TV that 440 people had been detained that day, many of them minors, and that 48 officers had been injured.

Early October: arrests and closures

• October 2 to 5: Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said violent protests had affected 735 schools in one way or another. The Justice Ministry counted more than 5,060 arrests, 87 percent involving minors, Euronews reported. Several schools were damaged, burned or ransacked.
• October 4: Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced a five-point plan covering class cancellations, buildings, the school day, the Parcoursup university admissions platform and student support (Euronews).
• October 5: a 15-year-old in Lens lost a hand in clashes with police. La Voix du Nord reported he had picked up a police grenade; Euronews says the prosecutor had not yet established what happened.
• October 6: Lecornu suspended high school classes for the rest of the week. The Interior Ministry said 6,100 people had been arrested since the protests began, most under 18. Authorities counted about 250,000 marchers, organisers about 500,000 (Al Jazeera).
• By October 9: Education Minister Edouard Geffray announced 3,000 supply teachers for the schools with the worst shortages, directed by software to about 500 lycées, Reuters reported via Outlook India. The Justice Ministry's count reached 6,877 arrests, 86 percent minors (Northeastern).

Mid-October: from schools to the street

On October 14 a government spokesperson said the students' grievances were legitimate but were being "exploited politically and transformed into urban violence", Northeastern reports. On October 15 Lecornu accused France Unbowed (LFI) of using the movement for electoral gain, and Yellow Vest activist Jérôme Rodrigues urged people to join demonstrations on Saturday, October 17, according to the BBC and Reuters as cited by Outlook India.

Unions, farmers and the Yellow Vests joined the students with demands about living costs and fuel prices, NBC News reports. On October 17 about 550,000 people marched, according to the Interior Ministry, and the day ended in looting and arson in several cities.

The grievances

Students cite overcrowded classes, teachers who are absent and not replaced, run-down buildings that overheat in summer and long school days, Al Jazeera and Euronews report. Ryad Rani, president of the Union Syndicale Lycéenne, told Al Jazeera that some classes had 32 to 35 pupils.