French PM Lecornu warns against escalation of school protests — MyJoyOnline

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called a possible escalation of the wave of high school student protests, which began in Paris and spread to other regions of the country, irresponsible. The statement came after 164 people were detained on Monday, MyJoyOnline reports.

Students have been blocking educational institutions for several days, protesting, among other things, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that on Monday the protests affected 180 schools. Twelve security personnel, 12 students and three educational institution employees were injured.

Authorities’ statements on violence

In a post on X, Lecornu condemned reports of incidents near high schools. He said that fireworks, fires and violence near high schools cannot justify putting students, staff or police officers at risk.

According to Nuñez, some demonstrations involved masked people with pyrotechnics and objects for throwing who, in his view, sought confrontation with security forces. Cases of vandalism and fireworks being launched at police were also reported.

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Lecornu noted that the problems of high schools need to be heard and resolved, but violence should be unequivocally condemned and those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.

Causes and geography of the protests

The movement began last week in the Île-de-France region around Paris. According to AFP, four high schools were blocked in the southern departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Var. Protests also took place in Marseille, the Lille area and the city of Sedan in the Ardennes department.

The student union Union Syndicale Lycéenne called the actions a legitimate response to teacher and staff shortages, neglected schools, overloaded schedules and classrooms, as well as stress associated with the Parcoursup platform for admission to higher education institutions. The organization called on students to continue blocking schools on Tuesday in opposition to budget cuts.

According to French television channel BFMTV, during one incident a police officer allegedly injured a student by firing a crowd-control grenade launcher. The broadcaster also said that investigations had been launched into such incidents.