Thousands of students, teachers, and trade unionists demonstrated on Tuesday in Paris and a number of French cities, during a new escalation of protests led by high school students, protesting educational conditions and demanding increased resources, amid tight security measures following days of confrontations between demonstrators and security forces.
The movement began on September 17 in the Paris region, before gradually spreading to other cities, in light of complaints about the shortage of teachers, overcrowding in classrooms, the deterioration of school buildings, and the unsuitability of some facilities for high temperatures.
The agency said that students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of secondary schools since late September, while some movements witnessed acts of sabotage and clashes with riot police.
In Crete, where the protests began last month, students set up barricades in front of Saint-Exupéry High School, and student Abdelrahman Abdelkader said they came out "to make their voice heard, which is often ignored," according to AFP.
The cities of Rennes, Marseille, Nantes and Lyon also witnessed protests, while teachers joined students in a number of locations to show support.
Teacher Romain Duborn in Rennes said that a number of his colleagues decided to participate after discussing what they described as "police violence," and added that they wanted to be by the students' side if they needed them, according to Agence France-Presse.
Injuries and arrests
The French government said that 215 students and 715 police officers had been injured since the start of the movement, in addition to dozens of workers in the education sector being injured.
The authorities have also arrested more than five thousand people since the beginning of the protests, 87 percent of whom are minors.
The Ministry of Education indicated that 24 schools had been burned or vandalized since the start of the movement.
A 15-year-old boy lost his hand on Monday in the city of Lens, northern France, in an accident that occurred during a confrontation between students and the police.
The authorities said that the boy picked up a grenade used by riot police before it exploded, while students said that the projectile hit him directly after a police officer fired it.
The governor of Pas-de-Calais, François-Xavier Loch, said that the student's life was not in danger, but described the incident as "extremely serious."
The General Inspection Authority of the National Police opened an investigation into the incident.
Last week, another 14-year-old boy was hit in the head with a tear gas canister, resulting in a broken jaw.
Protests spread across the country
Students demonstrated on Tuesday in front of schools across France, while tens of thousands were expected to take to the streets, with trade unions joining the movements.
According to Reuters, students in Paris set up barricades using garbage containers, and raised banners that read: “We want to be heard, not exposed to tear gas” and “Our future is not a choice.”
In the city of Lille, a BBC correspondent said that students had gathered since the morning in front of a number of schools to demand more investment in education, while garbage containers were set on fire before firefighters intervened.
The government is facing increasing pressure
The protests come months before the presidential elections scheduled for 2027, to choose a successor to President Emmanuel Macron after the end of his second term.
Agence France-Presse said that the government sought to address some of the demands, but accused the hard-left "France Proud" party of being behind the movement.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of the Proud France party, announced his support for the protests, while calling for commitment to peaceful means.
General Secretary of the General Union of Labor Sophie Benet also called on union members to participate in order to "protect high school students," while Green Party leader Marine Tondillier called on local officials and parents to wear white and join the protests.
Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu's office demanded that the gatherings remain peaceful, calling for a return to "an organized, legal and democratic form of opposition," according to Agence France-Presse.
Accusations of using excessive force
Unions and human rights organizations accused the police of using excessive force against the demonstrators, and Amnesty International said that the French authorities must “put an end to the disproportionate repression” witnessed by the student protests in recent days, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Anne Savinel-Barras of the organization said that the images and testimonies circulating raise concerns about the use of tear gas, batons and crowd control methods.
On the other hand, the police opened ten internal investigations into allegations related to the use of force since the beginning of the movement, according to what Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced.
Protesters' demands
The protests focus on the shortage of teachers and staff, overcrowding in classrooms, and the poor condition of school buildings.
The French Ministry of Education also announced the opening of a national consultation via the “Agora” platform with secondary school students, which began on October 5 and continues until the 23rd of the same month, to collect their opinions and suggestions regarding study conditions and school life.
