Student protests in France: who is to blame for the violence?

Are these justified protests, or is it blind violence? Almost 900 secondary schools remained fully or partially closed on Tuesday this week. Dozens of school buildings have been damaged, vandalized or set on fire since the end of September. At least 215 students, almost 80 teachers and well over 700 police officers were injured in the clashes. This is a shocking result even for France, where protests regularly turn into violence.

Who is responsible for this?

It all started in Créteil, a suburb of Paris. At the Lycée Saint-Exupéry there, several teachers initially stopped work; unlike in Germany, civil servants in France are allowed to strike. The teachers in Créteil called for more staff because even two weeks after the summer holidays, vacancies at the school were not filled. The shortage of teachers and the associated loss of lessons are a recurring problem in many French schools. A few days later, students joined their teachers' protest and blocked the school.