More than a quarter of a million people marched across France on Tuesday in the largest day yet of a student-led movement against crumbling and understaffed schools, as Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu suspended high school classes nationwide for the rest of the week and ordered his ministers to answer the students' demands by the end of October.
France's Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in demonstrations across the country, including 56,000 in Paris, while organisers claimed the figure was closer to 450,000. The High School Students Union said nearly 2,000 high schools were blockaded or closed for the day; the Education Ministry said classes were totally or partially suspended at 891 schools. Protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement, the biggest challenge yet for the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
Tear gas, barricades and a teenager's injury
In Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and Strasbourg, students, parents, teachers and trade unionists marched with signs reading "they don't really care about us" and "survive or study". In Strasbourg, Lyon and Rennes the demonstrations turned violent at times, with police firing tear gas and protesters lighting fires and hurling projectiles.
On Monday in the northern city of Lens, a 15-year-old boy lost a hand and part of his arm after picking up a police grenade during clashes, according to the newspaper La Voix du Nord. Lecornu said at least 215 teenagers and 715 police officers had been wounded during the protests. Rights groups and parents have accused the authorities of using disproportionate force against minors; Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the police response had been proportionate in "almost all cases".
Arrests and the government's response
The Interior Ministry says it has arrested more than 6,100 people since the protests began, the majority of them under 18, while an AP dispatch put the figure above 6,500; the Justice Ministry announced that more than 1,800 people would be prosecuted, including 1,483 minors.
Announcing the class suspension, Lecornu ordered ministers to address the students' demands by the end of October, saying the government would look into repairing ageing campuses. The education ministry has also opened an online portal inviting students to describe anonymously the difficulties they face at school.
The students are demanding absent teachers be replaced, longer lunch breaks and changes to the length of the school day, alongside repairs to rundown buildings that lack desks and chairs, swelter in summer without air conditioning and in some cases are infested with rats. US President Donald Trump weighed in on social media, claiming the unrest was about immigration rather than schools, without offering evidence.
Sources:
"France suspends high school classes as protesters clash with police" — Al Jazeera
"French riot police fire tear gas as more than 250,000 rally nationwide" — Associated Press (via Akron News Reporter)
France's Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in demonstrations across the country, including 56,000 in Paris, while organisers claimed the figure was closer to 450,000. The High School Students Union said nearly 2,000 high schools were blockaded or closed for the day; the Education Ministry said classes were totally or partially suspended at 891 schools. Protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement, the biggest challenge yet for the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
Tear gas, barricades and a teenager's injury
In Paris, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and Strasbourg, students, parents, teachers and trade unionists marched with signs reading "they don't really care about us" and "survive or study". In Strasbourg, Lyon and Rennes the demonstrations turned violent at times, with police firing tear gas and protesters lighting fires and hurling projectiles.
On Monday in the northern city of Lens, a 15-year-old boy lost a hand and part of his arm after picking up a police grenade during clashes, according to the newspaper La Voix du Nord. Lecornu said at least 215 teenagers and 715 police officers had been wounded during the protests. Rights groups and parents have accused the authorities of using disproportionate force against minors; Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the police response had been proportionate in "almost all cases".
Arrests and the government's response
The Interior Ministry says it has arrested more than 6,100 people since the protests began, the majority of them under 18, while an AP dispatch put the figure above 6,500; the Justice Ministry announced that more than 1,800 people would be prosecuted, including 1,483 minors.
Announcing the class suspension, Lecornu ordered ministers to address the students' demands by the end of October, saying the government would look into repairing ageing campuses. The education ministry has also opened an online portal inviting students to describe anonymously the difficulties they face at school.
The students are demanding absent teachers be replaced, longer lunch breaks and changes to the length of the school day, alongside repairs to rundown buildings that lack desks and chairs, swelter in summer without air conditioning and in some cases are infested with rats. US President Donald Trump weighed in on social media, claiming the unrest was about immigration rather than schools, without offering evidence.
Sources:
"France suspends high school classes as protesters clash with police" — Al Jazeera
"French riot police fire tear gas as more than 250,000 rally nationwide" — Associated Press (via Akron News Reporter)
