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Photos: School blockades, street protests grip France
Confirmed
In Short: A quarter of a million demonstrators took to the streets across France on Tuesday, joining high school students in demanding better learning conditions.
A quarter of a million demonstrators took to the streets across France on Tuesday, joining high school students in demanding better learning conditions. The protests, which began in late September, have seen hundreds of high schools blocked by students who are protesting over missing teachers, overloaded timetables, and dilapidated classrooms.
Students have been blocking entrances to schools for 15- to 17-year-olds since late September, citing issues such as a lack of desks and chairs, broken bathroom facilities, and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures. The protests have largely been peaceful, but some have turned violent, with 24 schools burned or ransacked since the start of the movement.
In Paris, protesters gathered at Place de la République beneath banners demanding better-funded schools. A 19-year-old protester, Lilia, told AFP, 'Gen Z has risen up and wants to be heard,' hoping President Emmanuel Macron would listen.
While many protests have been peaceful, some have descended into sporadic clashes with security forces. Police officials reported that '300 hostile individuals' were attempting to confront officers. A 17-year-old student from the Paris suburb of Val-de-Marne, Thomas, said, 'We just want better conditions for studying.'
Amnesty International has called on the French authorities to 'put an end to the disproportionate police repression seen in recent days during student protests.' Police have launched 10 internal investigations into allegations of brutality since the protests began.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said his government is taking steps to address the difficulties faced by high school students and educational staff. This includes ensuring classes continue, improving facilities, better organizing school days, and making the French university admissions platform more transparent.
The government has warned that the number of schools potentially affected could be comparable to Friday's figure but promised a 'partial, progressive return to lessons.' Up to 500 schools across France will be partially or totally closed on Monday after clashes between riot police and student protesters.
Veteran LFI presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has strongly supported the protests, calling for non-violent methods. He said, 'Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings.'
Parents and teachers have also joined the protests, with some organizing to support the students. Teacher Rindala Younes said she wanted to help students 'convey their message peacefully.'
The protests have sent shivers down the French government's spine, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez describing the unrest as unprecedented 'urban violence,' particularly targeting teachers and security forces.
What this adds
The protests have spread from deprived suburbs of Paris to other parts of the country, with thousands of students, parents, and teachers taking to the streets.
The government argues that the number of people going to school has dropped and is projected to fall further, leading to teacher cuts.
A teenager suffered a severe hand injury after an explosive device went off during clashes between protesters and police in northern France.
What's confirmed
- Students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.
- While many protests have been peaceful, some demonstrators have started fires, destroyed bus shelters or clashed with riot police.
- Since the start of the movement, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, according to the education ministry.
What's still developing
- "It makes us feel like everything gets solved through violence," he said.
- "There are activists - particularly from the far-left - who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence," Édouard Geffray claimed.
- Tuesday’s mass demonstrations came after two weeks of protests that began in deprived suburbs of Paris before spreading to other parts of the country.
- The government argued that, the number of people going to school has dropped, and projected to futher fall by 180,000; that’s why they cut the teachers.
- According to reports, a teenager suffered a severe hand injury after an explosive device went off during clashes between protesters and police in northern France on Monday.