Mass protests in France, declared as peaceful, gradually escalate into clashes with police

Protests are taking place in more than 30 cities and towns in France on Tuesday, said the student union L'Union Étudiante, one of the organizers of the demonstrations. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a total of about 86 thousand people took to the streets throughout the country, 40 thousand of them in Paris.

Mass actions are also taking place in Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Lyon and other cities.

Organizers say peaceful protests are planned for Tuesday, but according to Reuters, students in Paris have been building barricades out of garbage containers since the morning.

There are already reports from some areas of clashes between protesters and police. In particular, in Strasbourg in northeastern France, protesters threw firecrackers at police officers.

In Rennes, a city in northwestern France, police used water cannons during clashes.

In many cities, students came with signs saying, “We want to be heard, not tear gassed,” and “Our future is not an option.”

However, the protesters' actions during the week of unrest stand in stark contrast to their claims of striving for a better future. Dozens of educational institutions were set on fire throughout France, colossal material damage was caused to the infrastructure of cities, and dozens of teachers were beaten or doused with gasoline as a measure of intimidation.

About two thousand schools and colleges in the country are closed, the learning process has been interrupted indefinitely.

According to authorities, 215 young people were injured. In Lens, a 15-year-old boy's arm was blown off during a clash with police.

Dozens of teachers and police officers were injured.

To date, more than five thousand people have been detained.

Nationwide protests by schoolchildren began at the end of September. The epicenter was the capital region of Ile-de-France.

It is believed that the first protests broke out spontaneously, but very quickly they were joined by the high school students' union Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) and called for a nationwide blockade of educational institutions.

Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) claims that 1,800 high schools are currently either blocked by protesters or closed by the Ministry of Education.

The union also reports that 90% of universities are blocked. In a statement on social media X, the organization called the current scale of protests a “new record.”

On Tuesday, the union reiterated its demands to the authorities. Among them are the creation of 150 thousand additional places in higher education institutions, the allocation of €10 billion for the emergency reconstruction of schools and the “mass recruitment” of teachers.

In some cities, student protesters are being joined by their relatives as part of the “Parents Present” movement.

Parents are mainly concerned about the length of the school day. Classes usually start around 08:30 am and can sometimes last until 18:00.

What is the French government doing?

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu instructed ministers to address students' basic demands in an attempt to reduce the intensity of the protests.