France's interior ministry said 71,500 people joined Thursday's school protests, including 24,500 in Paris, with violence in several cities and more than 500 arrests reported.
French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched on Thursday in a third week of protests over school conditions, Reuters reported. The interior ministry said 71,500 people took part, including 24,500 in the main Paris demonstration around Bastille. Al Jazeera, citing the ministry, said police arrested more than 500 people.
Reuters said the Paris march was mostly peaceful, with occasional evening clashes. The ministry said arsonists attacked a Bordeaux police station, a school in Saint-Etienne was ransacked, and a teacher in Toulouse was hit by a demonstrator. In Marseille, police said a teacher at Victor Hugo High School was attacked and filed a criminal complaint.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said in a Thursday evening television interview that 3,000 teachers would join high-priority schools between Friday and Tuesday, and that he would authorise hiring a few hundred more, Al Jazeera reported. On Wednesday the government suspended stun grenades in protest policing after a teenager's hand was blown off.
Figures cited by Al Jazeera from the prime minister's office said that since 28 September, 215 students, 89 teachers and 761 police officers and gendarmes had been injured, and 6,629 people detained. Those are cumulative government figures, not Thursday's toll alone.
The protests are continuing into a third week. Thursday's new official counts are the 71,500 participants and the day's arrests and incidents.
People Sentiments Negative
- Geffray said 3,000 teachers would be assigned to high-priority schools between Friday and Tuesday.
- The interior ministry reported an attack on a Bordeaux police station and a ransacked school in Saint-Etienne.