School protests in France continue unabated, fueling concerns about broader social protests in the country seven months before the presidential election. After the large rallies on Tuesday, there were also individual blockades at high schools and universities on Wednesday. Education unions called for renewed demonstrations on Thursday.
After a crisis meeting with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a speech on Wednesday evening on the situation in schools, high fuel prices, the agricultural crisis and the country's ailing financial situation.
All attempts by the center government of Macron's confidant Lecornu to channel the young people's protests, which began over a week ago, have so far been unsuccessful. On Sunday he instructed the ministers to find concrete measures to improve the situation in schools and to listen to the legitimate concerns of high school students. On Tuesday he told parliament that the problems should be discussed in schools from Wednesday to Friday and not taught. Instead of returning to class, a number of students protested again in front of the buildings. As a precautionary measure, 528 schools remained completely or partially closed.
No promises from the government so far
The students' demands are actually simple and understandable: They want better school equipment, more teachers and better learning conditions. Specifically, it's about a lack of substitute teachers, run-down schools with broken windows and falling ceilings and timetables that are far too full. Especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods, young people feel like second-class citizens and that their concerns are not taken seriously. However, the government has not yet found a clear answer to the protests and there have been no concrete promises so far.
Away from the government camp, the political blocs accuse the government of failure and often support the demands of young people, but in particular the student protests are being exploited politically. The government and the right-wing camp initially accused the French left-wing party La France Insoumise and its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon of deliberately inciting the sometimes violent protests in order to sow chaos in the country in the run-up to the presidential election. The left-wing parties, in turn, accused the government of wanting to stifle the protests with repressive police use.
The highlight of the protests so far was nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday. According to the Interior Ministry, 266,000 people took part in Paris and other major cities. The education unions spoke of 450,000 participants.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced this morning that police use of stun grenades during student protests would be suspended. One such grenade, which was fired by emergency services into a group of students, tore off a 15-year-old's hand on Monday in Lens, northern France. This led to growing outrage over the brutal behavior of the police and alleged police violence.
Macron calls for moderation in police operations
In this context, Macron called for moderation at a crisis meeting on Tuesday evening, the interior minister said in an interview with broadcaster RTL. Macron called on people to “show empathy” and to explain that the police intervene in the event of serious acts of violence. Above all, it must be made clear “that in peaceful demonstrations – including those by students in front of their schools – there is no reason for police intervention, none at all.” So far, the police have also broken up blockades in front of schools.
Macron's appeal, which intervened for the first time on Tuesday in the debate about how to deal with the student protests, was not really heard by the police. On Wednesday, the police again used tear gas against schoolchildren and students to clear blockades - for example in front of a high school in Marseille and also in front of the renowned elite university Sciences Po in Paris, from which Macron and many top French politicians graduated. Students had set up barricades on the adjacent Boulevard Saint-Germain, an important traffic artery.
Government fears second yellow vest movement
The government's concern is that the protests - fueled by high fuel prices and the cost of living - could spread to other areas and create something like a second yellow vest protest, which kept France in suspense for a long time in 2019. The trigger at the time was a planned increase in taxes on fuel, which quickly gave rise to a broader movement against high costs of living and social injustice, which gave Macron a hard time during his first term in office.
What makes it much more difficult for the government to deal with the student protests is the national debt, which is completely out of control. At the end of the second quarter, this rose to its highest level since 1946 and amounts to a total of almost 3.6 trillion euros, an unprecedented value. In view of these figures, the government is actually struggling with an austerity budget - billions in additional spending on schools, as is called for, is difficult to achieve.
