France's Minister of Education Edouard Geffray speaks with students during a visit to the INSPE University on the first day of the new academic year in Mende, southern France on September 1, 2026. Some 11.6 million primary, middle and secondary school pupils are returning to school on September 1, 2026, with headteachers' preparations having been disrupted by the fallout from a cyberattack targeting the French Ministry of Education this summer. Among the main changes this year are a ban on mobile phones in sixth-form colleges and the distribution to all pupils, from the final year of nursery school to the final year of sixth form, of a questionnaire on gender-based and sexual violence. (Photo by Guillaume HORCAJUELO / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)