High school protests in France grow – hundreds of thousands demonstrate

Vilma Strömberg

 

Published 21:03 | Updated 21:32

Tuesday was expected to be the biggest day of protests so far.

Over 250,000 people have taken to the streets.

At the same time, new clashes with police are being reported.

On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across France to participate in widespread high school protests. The protests began in mid-September in the Paris region (Île-de-France) and have since spread to the rest of the country.

The demonstrators—consisting largely of high school students and teachers—are demanding improvements to the country's education system; among other things, they want to see renovated school buildings and more trained teachers and support staff.

Tuesday was expected to be the largest day of protests to date. In the afternoon, the Ministry of the Interior reported that 256,000 people had demonstrated across France, with 56,000 in Paris.

Organizers, however, estimated the total number of demonstrators nationwide at 450,000, including 100,000 in the capital. These figures come from the high school and student organizations arranging the protest day: USL, Fage, Union étudiante, and Unef.

More than half of the country's high schools have been blocked or kept closed throughout the day.
Hundreds injured

Since the protests began several weeks ago, they have led to violent riots and clashes in various locations. Riot police have been deployed, and French authorities have used stun grenades and tear gas against demonstrators.

Hundreds of people have been injured.

"The extreme violence has reached high schools and must be condemned without reservation. In a functioning democracy, we cannot tolerate violence," Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday, according to BFMTV.

According to the Prime Minister, 215 students and 85 school staff members have been injured. Lecornu stated that this is the highest number of injuries among public school employees in the country in several decades.

In addition, 715 police officers have been injured since the protests began.

Boy loses hand in explosion

A serious accident occurred in Lens on Monday, in which a 15-year-old boy had his hand blown off.

According to French media, the boy picked up a police grenade, which then exploded in his hand. He was taken to the hospital, but his injuries are not reported to be life-threatening.

Two young women were also reportedly injured when a group of youths fired fireworks at police in a suburb north of Paris on Monday, according to sources cited by BFMTV. One reportedly suffered an injury to her back and the other to her ear.

On Tuesday, reports emerged of fresh clashes between police and demonstrators. Fires were set, and police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, over 6,000 people have been arrested since the protests began. The majority of them are minors. 

Classes cancelled

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has promised action and has, among other things, tasked several ministers with addressing the protesters' key demands.

On Tuesday, he also announced that classes at upper secondary schools would be cancelled from Wednesday to Friday to allow time for discussions between students and school management.