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French School Protests Resume on Small Scale After Holiday
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In Short: French high school protests resumed on a smaller scale on Monday, with blockades at about 41 schools, according to the French Ministry of Education.
French high school protests resumed on a smaller scale on Monday, with blockades at about 41 schools, according to the French Ministry of Education. This represents about one percent of the country’s 3,700 high schools, as reported by Franceinfo.
The government announced last week that it would gradually replace the Parcoursup admissions platform by 2028, cancel planned education job cuts, and promise 500 additional posts and a cap of 28 pupils per class in the first year of high school, according to Franceinfo.
The Interior Ministry reported that 779 people were arrested nationwide, and the French public prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary inquiry into suspicion of “attempted murder of public authorities,” linked to a Molotov cocktail thrown toward security forces in Paris.
The protests have seen some violent incidents, including the use of Molotov cocktails and clashes with police, resulting in injuries and arrests. François-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said roughly 200 to 250 protesters had been hurling objects at police.
Student demonstrators, such as 18-year-old Sami Karen, told Reuters, “We’re going to keep blocking until the government hears us,” while protesting outside Charles de Foucauld high school in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that rioters would face accountability, with at least 1,800 people arrested during nationwide protests, as reported by Arise.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu vowed that the government would not be intimidated by the violence, blaming the unrest on far-left groups and criminals ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The protests have also drawn international attention, with Iran summoning the French ambassador to Tehran over Paris’s treatment of protesters demanding better conditions in schools, as reported by Arabnews.
The protests have escalated into widespread violence, with fires, vandalism, and clashes with police affecting several major cities, as reported by Travelmole.
French authorities detained 1,314 people during nationwide protests on Saturday, according to a provisional Interior Ministry tally, as reported by DW.
What this adds
The protests have been ongoing for three weeks, with some incidents involving non-students, according to the French Education Minister Édouard Geffray.
What's confirmed
- Protests resumed on a smaller scale; around 1% of high schools blocked, per Education Ministry.
- The Interior Ministry said Sunday that 779 people were arrested nationwide, and the French public prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary inquiry into suspicion of “attempted murder of public authorities,” linked to a Molotov cocktail thrown toward security forces in Paris.
What's still developing
- Read more Some 320,000 demonstrators take part in largely peaceful protests across France Some high schools will be blockaded from Monday, when students return from a two-week holiday, said Pierre Sourzat, head of the "Lycéens!" group.
- Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™ Last week, hundreds of thousands of people participated in protests across the country, and while most were peaceful, some deteriorated into riots, with arson and looting reported.
- Iran itself suffered major anti-government protests in January, during which the authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, blaming “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel.
- "The government is trembling and it's right to tremble because when the French people are angry, they never let up," Ryad Rani, the head of the LSU high school student representative body, told journalists in Paris.
- Police and protesters clashed violently in Paris and other French cities Saturday on the sidelines of nationwide marches against soaring inflation, with one demonstrator's hand blown off, multiple blazes set and looters breaking into dozens of stores to strip them bare.
- The game in Paris between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints remains scheduled as planned despite civil unrest in the French capital, the NFL said Sunday.
- French police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Lyon on Saturday morning, 24 October, as 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed nationwide to prevent a repetition of the violence and looting that accompanied last weekend’s mass protests.
- The developments follow last weekend’s nationwide unrest, when approximately 550,000 people demonstrated against rising living costs, deteriorating public services and conditions in French schools.
- French firefighters put out burning barricades during protests in Aubervilliers.
- High school students and other protesters voicing anger over rising expenses and deteriorating public services.
- Marine Le Pen launched her fourth bid to become president of France on Sunday with a plea to "French patriots" to back her and her far-right National Rally (RN) in spring elections.