Students, teachers and parents marched across France on Tuesday over school conditions, with tear gas used in several cities and the government saying thousands have been arrested since the protests began.
Police fired tear gas at protesters blockading French high schools on Tuesday as students, teachers and parents joined the largest day so far in a wave of demonstrations over understaffed and dilapidated classrooms, Reuters reported.
Rallies in Marseille and Nantes were largely peaceful, with signs reading that the state had killed national education. In Strasbourg, Lyon and Rennes, Reuters said demonstrations turned violent, with fires in the streets and projectiles thrown at police. The BBC reported water cannon used in Rennes and a burning barricade in Lyon.
The High School Students Union told Reuters that more than half of France's roughly 3,700 high schools were blockaded or would close. The government figure differed: the BBC said authorities counted 891 schools with classes suspended in whole or in part, while one student union claimed about 1,800 blockades. The interior ministry said 6,100 people had been arrested since the protests began, most of them minors, and the justice ministry said more than 1,800 people were being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors.
The New York Times reported the movement began last month at a single school in the Paris suburbs and spread nationwide. Education Minister Edouard Geffray has called the demands legitimate but said violence cannot be justified. The office of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said at least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers had been injured. A 15-year-old lost a hand and part of a lower arm on Monday in northern France after picking up a police dispersal grenade, Reuters reported, citing La Voix du Nord.
The government says outsiders have hijacked parts of the movement. Unions and some rights groups have accused police of disproportionate force. No agreement on new school funding had been announced by Tuesday.
People Sentiments Negative
- A recent graduate identified as Roberta told Reuters students want more money so high schools can be renovated.
- Education Minister Edouard Geffray called the demands legitimate but said no demand can justify the violence.
- The government said the movement has been hijacked by outsiders.