The pupil, in a class of early teenagers, stabbed the teacher at least three times on Tuesday. He was later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, said Raphael Balland, the public prosecutor in the southern city of Toulon.
France's education minister, Edouard Geffray, said that he was headed to La Guicharde secondary school, where the stabbing took place, in the town of Sanary-sur-Mer.
"My thoughts immediately go out to the victim, her family and the entire educational community, whose deep shock I share," he wrote on X.
The 60-year-old victim remains in a serious condition after the attack on Tuesday.
The student, now held on suspicion of attempted murder, admitted taking a knife from his family kitchen specifically to carry out the attack, he said.
The teenager told police he stabbed the teacher four times in front of a class of 22 students because he had "too much hatred", added Balland.
The prosecutor said on Tuesday there was no known religious or political motivation behind the stabbing.
The student was allegedly upset that the teacher -- a 28-year veteran of the school -- had reported several disciplinary incidents involving him, which he described as "unfair".
The teenager told authorities he now "deeply regretted" his actions, claiming he felt more hatred towards himself than his victim after the attack.
He is due to appear before a court, which will decide whether to place him in pre-trial detention as requested by the prosecution.
The attack is the latest in a series of incidents in France involving violence by pupils against teachers or fellow students.
A 14-year-old schoolboy was last year charged with the murder of a teaching assistant after allegedly stabbing her to death in June.
He attacked the 31-year-old, a mother of a young boy, during a bag search in the eastern town of Nogent.
In a separate case, a student in April killed a girl and wounded several other pupils in a stabbing spree in the western city of Nantes.
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