French student protests escalate – Thunberg in Paris

 

Elin Swedenmark/TT

 

Published 09:45 | Updated 18:23

        

       Students protesting in Paris on Tuesday. Photo: Teresa Suarez/AP/TT

French students feel the government has offered mere "crumbs" in response to the protests. On Tuesday, they are demonstrating across the country once again—with Greta Thunberg present in Paris.

According to French student organizations, nearly half a million people are participating nationwide.

"We’ve been protesting for three weeks. At first, we just wanted to push for our demands, but now we’re also here because the police fire tear gas at us and humiliate us every day," Lina, 19, and Rita, 18, told *Le Monde* in Marseille.

The government has tried to calm the situation in various ways—but not sufficiently, according to the student union USL.

Education official Édouard Geffray has promised, among other things, to urgently deploy 3,000 substitute teachers to the high schools with the greatest need—a measure that has already begun.

There have been isolated incidents of violence in Paris on Tuesday. *Le Parisien* reports that tear gas canisters were thrown on Boulevard Saint-Michel and a car was set on fire near Boulevard des Invalides, while protesters dressed in black looted and vandalized a wine shop in another part of the city.

Thunberg participates

Greta Thunberg is on site and spoke about youth rights to demonstrators outside the Paul-Éluard high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

"Young people are not included in the conversation." "We are being robbed of our future," she said, according to AFP.

As before, parents and teachers are also participating—such as Tristan Mattelart, a university lecturer in communication studies.

"I am here to be available to my students, to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control, and to protect them if necessary," he told * till Le Figaro *.

**Figures: Nearly half a million**

Student organizations reported on Tuesday that a total of 480,000 people across the country are participating in today's protests. The Ministry of the Interior, for its part, puts the figure at 161,500—still a significant increase compared to last week, when the ministry reported 71,500 demonstrators.

According to the student organization L'Union étudiante, nearly 90 percent of the country's 70 public universities are blocked or closed.

Just over 200 schools are also closed, according to the Ministry of Education, which also claims that violence is on the rise and that "at least eight education sector employees" were injured on Monday.

The demonstrators are demanding more resources for upper secondary schools, a fundamental overhaul of the education system, and the scrapping of the admissions system, which is considered to contribute to inequality.