France's interior ministry said more than 250,000 people marched on Tuesday over high-school conditions, with organisers putting the figure at 450,000. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Wednesday night that new measures would come by the end of the month.
Police fired tear gas as more than 250,000 pupils, teachers and parents demonstrated across France on Tuesday, the largest day yet of a campaign over high-school conditions, the Guardian reported. The interior ministry counted 200,000 in cities including Marseille, Nantes and Lyon and 56,000 in Paris. Organisers put the total at 450,000.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured since the protests began more than a fortnight ago, calling it the heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system. Most marches passed without serious incident, but some, including in Paris, ended in vandalism and skirmishes, with officers using tear gas and baton charges.
CBC reported that protests began at a Paris-region high school in mid-September and that more than half of schools are short-staffed this year, according to a secondary teachers' union survey. President Emmanuel Macron called ministers to the Elysee on Tuesday night, French media told the Guardian.
Lecornu addressed the nation on Wednesday night and pledged to introduce new measures by the end of the month, CBC reported. A platform for student grievances launched on Tuesday had already received about 40,000 submissions. No bill text was published in the reports used here.
People Sentiments Negative
- Sebastien Lecornu called the injury figures the heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system.
- Organisers put Tuesday's turnout at 450,000, above the interior ministry count.