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 said the protests planned for Tuesday would be peaceful, but according to Reuters, participants in Paris had been building barricades out of garbage containers since early morning, and there were reports of clashes between protesters and police in some areas throughout the day.
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: “We want to be heard, not tear gassed” and “Our future is not a matter of choice.”
The unrest has been going on for a week, and the actions of the protesters are in sharp contrast to the statements of their organizers that the schoolchildren are standing up for a better future. Dozens of educational institutions were set on fire throughout France, colossal material damage was caused to the infrastructure of cities, dozens of teachers and school principals were beaten and hospitalized.
According to trade unions, about two thousand schools and colleges are closed in the country, and the education process has been interrupted indefinitely.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu told the press on Tuesday that 715 police officers and gendarmes, 215 schoolchildren and 85 school workers were injured in the unrest.
In Lens, a 15-year-old boy's arm was blown off after he picked up a stun grenade thrown by police.
“Burning schools will not help improve the condition of school buildings. Lynching teachers will not help find replacement teachers,” Lecornu said.
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.
