Student rebellion is growing in France. Yellow vests also took to the streets

The student protests, which started as a reaction to the shortage of teachers and neglected schools in high schools in poor suburbs in France, turned into a massive nationwide anti-government movement targeting the cost of living and public expenditures.

Today, the most violent clashes of recent years took place in many cities between thousands of people who took to the streets and the police; Security forces intervened in the crowds with tear gas.

Authorities recorded 140 demonstrations in cities outside Paris by mid-day, attended by 32,800 people. While the Ministry of Internal Affairs held the groups it defined as the "extreme left" responsible for the events, it announced that there were vandalism incidents in different cities, especially Marseille, in which public buildings, the press and the police were targeted.

The Mayor of Marseille reported that the city hall was destroyed and additional police units were sent to the city after meetings with the prime minister and the interior minister.

Extensive security measures were taken in the center of the capital Paris, especially around the Champs-Elysees Street and the Arc de Triomphe, which were excluded from the two permitted demonstration routes.

The fluorescent vests worn by some activists who closed the streets and avenues to traffic brought the Yellow Vest movement, which left its mark on President Emmanuel Macron's previous term, back on the agenda.

Speaking to the Reuters news agency and participating in the protests in Paris, 19-year-old Lola expressed her reaction with the following words:

“We are struggling because the cost of living has become too severe, fuel prices have risen too high, and high school students are being attacked and injured across the country simply for demanding more teachers and decent educational conditions.”

Another unnamed witness stated that a group of approximately 100 people walking towards the starting point of the protests shouted slogans insulting the police.

Emmanuel Macron, who entered the last period of his presidency under political division and economic pressures, called for calm before the protests.

However, the government's efforts to reduce public debt did not reassure investors, pushing France's borrowing costs to the highest level in more than 20 years.