Liège Schools Stay Closed as Education Minister Condemns Protest Violence
Free-network and municipal secondary schools in Liège stayed closed on 2 October 2026 for safety reasons, a day after social-media calls brought student gatherings and clashes to several schools in the city. Authorities chose closure to prevent a repeat. In Montegnée, by contrast, the blockade at the Athénée Paul-Brusson, held in support of teachers, remained quiet, with no clash reported.
Valérie Glatigny, education minister of the French-speaking Community, issued a statement on 2 October condemning the violence and vandalism. She said everyone has the right to challenge a decision, to protest and to make disagreement heard, but that nothing can justify violence.
Glatigny added that she was particularly worried by signs of students being used by radical movements and people from outside the schools, saying violent methods recently seen in France were also being imported into Belgium, and that schools cannot become a playground for those seeking to stoke tensions.
The students' demands centre on education conditions: higher tuition, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate materials. The French-speaking Community government, heavily indebted, has been cutting budgets while pushing through education reforms, and discontent among students and teachers has built for months. The one-day closure offered only a pause, with no sign the movement was ending.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 列日市内建筑。照片：Jean Housen，CC BY-SA 3.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（20101111 liege006 pitteurs.JPG）
