France: Wave of blockages and violence in high schools and universities

Nantes, Perpignan, Paris, Tours, Alençon, Strasbourg, Clermont-Ferrand, Mulhouse…Several high schools are blocked again on Thursday throughout France, according to reports obtained by the ICI network, France Inter, franceinfo and Agence Radio France. And the situation is becoming tense, according to the feedback obtained by the ICI network, France Inter, franceinfo and Agence Radio France. Several damages have also been noted in several cities and transport networks have been interrupted, Agence Radio France learned from a police source. Projectiles were thrown, street furniture destroyed and damage was also noted in front of several schools in Île-de-France, in Occitanie in Toulouse, in Mayenne in Laval, in Charente-Maritime, and in Grenoble and Villefontaine in Isère where mortar fire was observed. The Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, will chair an interministerial crisis unit at 1 p.m. in Beauvau, announces Matignon.

The mobilization of high school students began a week ago in Île-de-France to protest against the overcrowding of classes and the absence of teachers and has spread to several regions. Some gatherings are marked by clashes with the police. At midday on Thursday, more than 400 actions were recorded by the police and more than 600 people were arrested, outside Paris and the inner suburbs. The protest is also spreading to universities. According to an updated count sent Thursday by the Student Union, 26 faculties were blocked at 10 a.m. in France.

Île-de-France

In Paris, the universities affected by the movement are Paris Cité, Grands Moulins campus, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and La Chapelle. The universities of Nanterre, Poitiers and Gustave-Eiffel in Seine-et-Marne also joined.

Symbol of high school anger, the Paul-Éluard high school, located in Saint-Denis, in Seine-Saint-Denis, is closed on Thursday, reports a France Inter journalist present near the establishment.

Center-Val de Loire

In Tours (Indre-et-Loire), tensions broke out between police and demonstrators in front of the Grandmont high school, the largest in the city. According to the ICI network journalist present on site, the police used tear gas.

Brittany and Pays de Loire

On the university side, Sciences Po Rennes and Rennes 1 and the University of Western Brittany are involved.

The hall of Nelson Mandela High School, located in the city center, was set on fire on Thursday morning. All staff and students had to be evacuated. According to testimonies from high school students collected by ICI Loire Océan, there was first a trash fire which then spread to the high school. The fire was under control by midday. Another fire affected the Talensac high school, still in Nantes, details HERE Loire Océan. The latter is extinguished. Within minutes, the high school's glass front doors were destroyed by flames.

The Loire-Atlantique prefecture mentions “acts of violence around high schools”. In a press release, she points the finger at "violent individuals" who have come "to join together with high school students to commit damage". “Nine establishments” suffered damage and “fires were started in three establishments [including the Nelson-Mandela high school] in the city of Nantes”, according to the prefecture, which mentions “significant” damage. The police made 18 arrests throughout the department, the press release specifies. The prefecture asks parents to remind their children not to get involved with thugs.

Hauts-de-France

In the North, the tension does not subside in Haubourdin, near Lille. According to ICI Nord, significant damage was noted and municipal buildings were ransacked. In Auchel, in Pas-de-Calais, the principal of the vocational high school Fernand Degrugillier was hit by a projectile, ICI Nord learned from the Pas-de-Calais prefecture. He was hospitalized.

Beaupré high school remains closed Thursday and Friday. The two schools located nearby will also be closed for the next two days.

Lille 2 University is participating in the movement.

Normandy

On the university side, Rouen is participating in the mobilization.

In Calvados, the prefecture warns that drones will be deployed on Thursday to monitor possible excesses in front of or near educational establishments, indicates ICI Normandie. This will involve aerial surveillance with recording and transmission of images, operational until 7 p.m. The prefecture does not indicate the names of the high schools monitored, but specifies that three towns are affected by this system: Caen, Hérouville-Saint-Clair and Mondeville, as well as the CIFAC (Calvados Interprofessional Craft Training Center) located near the CHU.

In Rouen, a trash fire blackened the facade of an establishment. Mobilizations are also reported in Orne.

Two school heads were injured in Seine-Maritime, indicates the rectorate at ICI Normandie. These are the principals of the Blaise-Pascal high schools, in Rouen, and Elisa-Lemonnier, in Petit-Quevilly. The rectorate evokes “unacceptable attacks and incredible violence”. They were taken care of by emergency services.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

On the university side, Lyon 2 and Lyon 3 are mobilized.

On the high school side, “half a dozen establishments are concerned”, specifies in particular on ICI Drôme Ardèche Benoît Trévisani, the prefect of Ardèche. “We started on Tuesday, there were two establishments. We have a little more today,” he adds. “We must ensure the continuity of the proper functioning of high schools with the safety of students and staff. And of course, I will not tolerate any degradation or violence on public roads,” added the prefect of Ardèche.

Classes were also disrupted on Thursday in Périgueux, according to ICI Périgord, where filter barriers were set up in front of the Bertrand-de-Born high school.

On the social network

Due to the high school movement, the transport network is completely suspended in the Grenoble conurbation (Isère), ICI Isère learned from the manager M réso. Several establishments are affected by the high school mobilization for the fourth consecutive day. On its website, "in order to ensure the safety of people and property, M réso is interrupting its bus and tram services", announced around 10:30 a.m. M réso, the public transport network in the Grenoble metropolis. Traffic is interrupted “until further developments in the situation” indicates the network. The lines “of the Voironnais and Grésivaudan countries are also impacted” but “to a lesser extent”.

In Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) and its conurbation, "due to a demonstration by high school students, as a security measure and following a prefectural decision, no T2C service is running", announces the public transport network of the Clermont conurbation on its website. The traffic interruption concerns “regular and school lines”.

New Aquitaine

The University of Poitiers is following the call for mobilization.

High school students are also mobilized on Thursday in front of several establishments in the Basque Country, in Bayonne, Anglet and Biarritz, according to ICI Pays Basque. The movement is also gaining momentum in Puy-de-Dôme and Allier, in Auvergne, where high schools are now blocked in Clermont-Ferrand and Montluçon, in addition to the blockages already in place in Issoire and Chamalières since the start of the week.

In Bordeaux, a high school was burned down in Bordeaux, reports ICI Gironde on the sidelines of the high school and student protests. The fire damaged the entrance to the François Mauriac technological high school. Street furniture, including bus shelters, were also destroyed during the demonstration. The high school will remain closed at least until the end of the week, specifies ICI Gironde.

Great East

On the university side, students from the Strasbourg faculty are mobilized on the main campus.

On the high school side, mobilizations reported in Strasbourg and Mulhouse. In Bischheim, in the Strasbourg metropolitan area, the facade of an establishment was damaged by a fire. Tram traffic is interrupted, at the request of the State, "in order to limit the movements of rioters and demonstrators", announced the prefect of Bas-Rhin on Thursday. “The many thugs present in Strasbourg this morning have nothing to do with the demands of the high school movement, nor are many of them educated in the establishments concerned,” said the prefect. The national police of Bas-Rhin called on X to “avoid the city center” where “large crowd movements will occur this afternoon”. Twelve people were arrested.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Occitanie

On the university side, students from Paul-Valéry in Montpellier and Aix-Marseille are mobilized.

According to the authorities, 40 high schools in Bouches-du-Rhône are affected by demonstrations, 18 of which were completely blocked on Thursday.

In Marseille, the transport service is “interrupted in its entirety, after disruptions linked to the high school movement”, announces the Marseille metropolitan network, RTM. Two buses were damaged near the Florida high school, in the 14th arrondissement.

“This Thursday, several RTM buses were attacked near high schools in the north and east of Marseille,” confirms the RTM in a press release consulted by ICI Provence. “Drivers had to rush out of their vehicles and one of them was attacked,” the company continues. The RTM deplores “this irresponsible behavior and calls for respect for its drivers and its equipment”. A fire van engaged in a trash fire in front of the Saint-Exupéry high school, in the north of Marseille, was also set on fire. A firefighter was slightly injured.