In September, students at a French lycée demanded the replacement of absent teachers and repairs of school building. Within weeks, the government was seen struggling to contain nationwide protests. What began as a dispute over the quality of schooling has become a question mark over distribution of resources and public grievances.
At the lycée in Créteil, a Paris suburb, teacher shortages had disrupted classes. Within weeks, according to Le Monde, more than 1,000 secondary schools were affected and students at several universities joined. On Oct 6, over 250,000 pupils, teachers and parents demonstrated across France. Their demands were specific: replacement of teachers, classrooms fit for hot summers, manageable timetables, and reforms of university admissions system.
The government responded with both force and concessions. Police used tear gas and crowd-control weapons; scores, including minors, were arrested, and several students suffered injuries. It also announced more than 3,000 replacement teachers and five reform initiatives. These measures failed to contain the unrest. By Oct 17, student protests had converged with demonstrations over living costs and deteriorating public services. Some demonstrations turned violent, with buildings set on fire and shops looted. All this unfolded just months before a presidential election.
Why did ordinary student demands produce extraordinary unrest? The answer lies in the political economy that allowed these grievances to accumulate.
Pakistan should read such developments not as a prediction of unrest but as a warning about its own choices
France’s educational difficulties are not simply about resources. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, it spends more per upper-secondary pupil than the OECD average. The problem, however, is how these resources are distributed. Teacher allocation is also a problem. Experienced teachers move away from disadvantaged schools, leaving poorer neighbourhoods dependent on inexperienced and temporary staff. Resources exist, but their allocation reproduces inequalities. The students were not simply asking for more spending; they were questioning who benefits from it. Fiscal pressures compound these inequalities. France faces rising interest payments. With debt service, pensions and defence competing for resources, additional education spending becomes harder to finance. These are not merely accounting choices. Organised constituencies defend existing entitlements; schoolchildren, many without votes, depend on promises about the future.
Another fault line is the unequal ability to exit. Affluent families choose state-subsidised private schools, while poor households depend on neighbourhood institutions. Economist Albert Hirschman’s distinction between exit and voice helps explain the consequences. When influential families leave, public schools can lose their most articulate and powerful advocates. This weakens the voice needed to improve public institutions. Those unable to exit, and whose voices remain unheard, may eventually turn to disruptive protest.
The phenomenon extends beyond France. In Bangladesh, protests over public-sector job quotas helped topple a government in 2024. In Nepal, a social-media ban unleashed anger over corruption and jobs, forcing a prime minister from office in 2025. Young Kenyans challenged tax increases; Moroccan protesters questioned spending on stadiums instead of hospitals and schools. In Madagascar, protests over water and electricity shortages preceded the president’s ouster and a military takeover. Sri Lanka’s wider uprising in 2022 followed economic collapse.
The triggers and outcomes differed across countries. The common thread was a weakening bargain between rising expectations and institutions unable or unwilling to meet them. Education promises mobility; labour markets fail to deliver enough rewarding opportunities. Governments demand sacrifice while protecting politically powerful claims. Where established channels cannot convert grievances into policy, protest becomes an alternative form of bargaining.
Pakistan should read these developments not as a prediction of unrest but as a warning about its own choices. About two-thirds of its 250m people are under 30, including some 67m aged between 15 and 29. This generation has expectations the economy is poorly equipped to meet. Unlike France, Pakistan spends too little on schooling, while almost a third of its school-age children are out of school. Those who complete their education struggle to find work in a labour market unable to absorb the growing number of entrants. The formal sector creates too few productive jobs to meet their aspirations.
Fiscal policy leaves little room for correction. The federal government continues to borrow, with interest payments now absorbing more than two-thirds of its revenue. Provinces also struggle to increase education spending. The affluent families turn to private schools, leaving the working classes dependent on bad public schools.
Political voice is more constrained. When fees rise, facilities deteriorate or employment prospects weaken, students have few institutional channels through which to influence decisions or hold those responsible accountable. Affluent families can exit failing institutions, but those who remain must rely on voice. Pakistan has weakened precisely that mechanism. Without credible representative institutions, grievances accumulate without being adequately addressed, and protest becomes an alternative to institutional bargaining. Excluding the youth from decisions does not eliminate discontent, it risks turning grievances into anger against the political system.
The policy response cannot end at expanding enrolment or announcing training schemes. Education budgets need protection, neglected schools must be supported, teachers should get incentives. But schooling without productive employment raises expectations that the economy cannot fulfil. Young people also need representative institutions to influence decisions.
France shows how missing teachers can become a crisis. Pakistan also should learn from it and support the institutions through which young people can learn, work and be heard.
The writer is an associate professor of economics at the Lahore School of Economics
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, October 26th, 2026
