Security at French schools has been enhanced for the start of the new school year. Despite limited resources, the government has placed a priority on protecting schoolchildren and teachers from the threat of terrorist attacks.

Providing extra security had become the number-one priority for school principals as pupils went back to school on Thursday, September 1, and 3,000 gendarmerie reservists were deployed for the day. However, the exercise was a one-day wonder, staged in part to put parents minds at ease after the recent atrocities in France, including the Bastille Day attack in Nice that cost the lives of 86 people, including many children.

A number of parents asked if this show of force would last longer, but manpower constraints will mean that mobile patrols will take its place. Future efforts will concentrate on identifying and securing suspect vehicles found parked near school entrances, installing security video-phones at entrances, and possibly gates that scan for metallic materials.