French high school students protest against escalating education conditions, clashes between police and civilians ignite fires and tear gas

(Central News Agency, Paris, 2nd, comprehensive foreign news report) French high school students lit fires and threw objects at the police today, and the police responded with tear gas. Meanwhile, campaigners have called for new rallies, escalating protests demanding better education conditions.

The French government said high school students in their mid-to-late teens had the right to air their grievances, but it condemned the violence, which included police officers being chased, kicked and beaten by a group of teenagers, Agence France-Presse reported.

A teacher was doused with gasoline and then physically assaulted by two people in La Ciotat, southern France, officials said.

The prosecutor of the city of Tours said today that an injured young man was blind in his right eye. The local provincial government said he was injured when a conflict broke out between students and police on September 30.

Today, trade unions and student groups called on the protesters to continue putting pressure on the government and hold a new round of rallies on the 6th. "High school students are looking forward to concrete measures from the government, but so far we haven't seen any results," said Ryad Rani, president of the USL Union.

This wave of movement started in the Paris area in September and then spread throughout France. During the protest, teenage students in the last few grades of high school blocked the school entrance and clashed with police.

Students said they were in school for too long and in poor conditions, including hot classrooms and frequent absences of staff.

In seven months, French voters will elect President Emmanuel Macron's successor, and the wave of protests has had a political effect.

The government accuses the far-left political movement France Unbowed of being behind the protests, and the party's radical leader Jean-Luc Melenchon will once again run for the presidency. French leader Manuel Bompard accused the government of "falling into conspiracy theories".

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said: "The high school student movement is being hijacked by ultra-violent fringe groups."

After meeting with campaigners, he said that of the 3,700 schools across the country, 735 were "more or less" affected today, a 30% decrease from yesterday. He said three teaching staff were injured, up from 31 injured yesterday, and said he would launch an action plan to "accelerate the replacement" of absent teachers.