In France, students clash with police during school blockades — The Guardian

In France, students blocking schools in protest against overcrowded classes, teacher shortages and long school days have clashed with police. The actions, which began in Paris last week, have spread across the country: authorities reported 164 arrests on Monday and another 40 by midday on Tuesday.

As The Guardian reports, high school students in Lille set fire to rubbish bins and threw bottles, paving stones and other objects at police officers. Police used tear gas after protesters damaged bus stops and advertising structures. Clashes also occurred in Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes and Marseille.

Protests at hundreds of lycées

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that protests took place outside 180 educational institutions on Monday. According to him, 12 police officers, 12 students and three school staff members were injured. The Education Ministry reported on Tuesday that actions were held at 300 lycées and that 10 students and staff members at educational institutions were injured.

Students at the Lamartine lycée in northern Paris held signs complaining about an exhausting schedule. One of them read: “From 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. More hours of study than sleep.”

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Government and union reaction

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called the escalation of the protests irresponsible. He said that fireworks, fires and violence outside lycées cannot justify putting students, school staff and police officers at risk.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the France Unbowed party, criticized the authorities’ actions. He said that the brutality in suppressing the protests had “an obvious racist undertone.” Lecornu called the remarks an irresponsible escalation and an insult.

The student protests are taking place alongside a strike by French trade unions against the government’s budget plans, which envisage cuts to public spending of €54 million. On Tuesday, many public-sector workers stopped work, including, by estimates, about 40% of primary school teachers.

Riyad Rani, head of the High School Students’ Union, called for a complete blockade of lycées while asking participants to keep the protests peaceful. He said that students were protesting against a lack of resources, classes of 32–35 children, and shortages of teachers and other staff.