The secondary school student was arrested after attacking the 31-year-old assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France, officials said.

France has in recent years seen several attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren.

In March, police started random searches for knives and other weapons concealed in bags at and around schools.

The assistant at the Francoise Dolto school in Nogent was stabbed several times shortly before 8:00 am, "as pupils were arriving for a visual inspection of their bags in the presence of the police", education officials said.

The suspect was taken into custody.

Emergency vehicles and police cars were parked outside the school at midday, AFP journalists saw.

Pupils have been sent home and classes have been suspended for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nora, a local who knew the victim, said she was "very sad" for the woman's husband and young son.

"Today it happened in Nogent but it could happen anywhere," she told AFP.

The alleged attacker, aged 14, was restrained by police officers present, said prosecutor Denis Devallois.

One officer was slightly injured, he added.

"While protecting our children, a teaching assistant lost her life, the victim of a senseless wave of violence," Macron wrote on X.

"The nation is in mourning and the government is mobilised to reduce crime," he added.

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the threat of knives among children had become "critical".

"It is our responsibility to make this widespread scourge a public enemy," he said on X.

Education Minister Elisabeth Borne travelled to Nogent to express her support.

"I commend the composure and dedication of those who acted to subdue the attacker and protect the students and staff," she said on X.

- 'Simply doing her job' -

In May, the deputy speaker of the French parliament, Naima Moutchou, said that carrying knives had become "a phenomenon" affecting "all areas" and people from all walks of life.

She presented Bayrou with a report on the possession of knives by minors.

Pupils who carried knives included young people who wanted to "defend themselves" and those who were "psychologically fragile", she said.

Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of the leading middle and high school teachers' union SNES-FSU, voiced "anger at the thought that a teaching assistant was exposed in this way".

"Teaching assistants have an educational role and are not security guards outside schools," she said.

The teaching assistant was "simply doing her job by welcoming students at the entrance to the school", added Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, secretary general of the SE-UNSA teachers' union.

She spoke of her "immense pain" at the killing.

"(It) shows that nothing can ever be completely secure and that it is prevention that needs to be focused on."

Jean-Remi Girard, president of the National Union of Secondary Schools, added: "It's impossible to be more vigilant 24 hours a day.

"We can't say that every student is a danger or a threat. Otherwise we'd never get out of bed in the morning."

The interior ministry said on Tuesday that between March 26 and May 26, 6,000 checks led to the seizure of 186 knives.

bj-slb-cnp-mca-as/sjw/gil