French teachers return to school for start of academic year disrupted by cyberattack

More than 850,000 teachers in France are returning to school on Monday, August 31, 2026, for a start of the academic year that is disrupted in some academies by the consequences of a cyberattack that occurred this summer. The Ministry of National Education revealed on July 31 that a major data theft had been detected six days earlier. In mid-August, hackers claimed to have obtained personal data of tens of thousands of teachers and students. As a precaution, several access points to digital tools have been suspended, complicating preparations for school leaders. The ministry announced on Friday evening that a return to normal had been achieved in 28 of the 30 French academies. However, the academies of Nantes and Toulouse remain among the most affected. In these two academies, the start of the school year will take place under very degraded conditions, according to Sophie Vénétitay, secretary general of Snes-FSU, the main secondary school union. In Toulouse, access to email and professional applications remains cut off until further notice. Full restoration of digital tools is expected within about two weeks, according to the rector Karim Benmiloud, who said that digital workspaces (ENT) should be relaunched on September 7. While the preparation of timetables is not affected, course schedules will be given to students in paper form. In Nantes, only partial access to email is possible. Some students without assignment may have to wait until mid-September to know their school. This start of the year is the last of Emmanuel Macron's second term, and unions have a severe assessment of his education policy. The government highlights an improvement in recruitment, with 98.5% of posts filled in primary education and 96.1% in secondary education, but unions urge caution, calling the results partly misleading. Other new features include a questionnaire on sexist and sexual violence for students from kindergarten to final year, and a ban on mobile phones in high schools.