In France, school students’ protests escalated into clashes: hundreds detained, people injured

In France, on September 30, law enforcement officers detained 625 people amid protests by upper-secondary students, while 83 police officers and gendarmes were injured. UNN reports this, citing French media and Reuters.

Students took to the streets over a shortage of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and the condition of educational institutions. The unrest spread to hundreds of lycées and began reaching universities. The protests have involved blockades of educational institutions, clashes with police, and arson.  

Details

According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, on Wednesday, September 30, blockades, including partial ones, were taking place at 356 lycées across the country. The day before, protests had affected more than 330 educational institutions. On Wednesday alone, police detained 625 people, while 83 police and gendarmerie personnel were injured. According to another agency—the French Ministry of Education—since the protests began, at least 119 students and education-sector employees have been injured, including 34 employees of educational institutions.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray called this level of violence unprecedented for the French education system.

On Thursday, October 1, the protests continued. During the first half of the day, at least 340 protests took place near lycées, with blockades of educational institutions reported in 169 cases. In the Île-de-France region alone, more than 200 lycées were blocked, with clashes, property damage, or other incidents reported at approximately 50 of them.

Upper-secondary students were also joined by university students. According to the student union L'Union étudiante, as of Thursday morning, the protests had spread to around 30 university campuses, including in Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille, Lyon, Reims, Poitiers, and Nanterre. At some universities, administrations switched classes to remote learning because entrances were blocked.

Arson and clashes in France 

In some cities, the protests were accompanied by serious unrest.

Thus, in Nantes, on the morning of October 1,  the hall of the Nelson-Mandela lycée was set on fire and destroyed. The flames spread to the building's façade, after which the fire was brought under control. In Marseille, 18 lycées were completely blocked. Overall, the protest movement in the Bouches-du-Rhône department affected around 40 educational institutions and more than 4,500 students. Near the Saint-Exupéry lycée, protesters set fire to a fire and rescue service vehicle, while near the La Floride lycée, a public-transport bus was burned. Incidents also occurred near the Victor-Hugo lycée.

Incidents were also reported in Lyon, where part of the façade of the Lumière lycée caught fire, while law enforcement officers detained around ten people.

How the protests began

Mass demonstrations began approximately a week before the nationwide wave of protests. One of the first centers was the Saint-Exupéry lycée in Créteil, near Paris, where students began protesting on September 21 over unfilled teacher vacancies. The protests subsequently spread to other Paris suburbs and then to the rest of France. By September 28, various forms of protest were already affecting around 180 educational institutions.

Among the students' main demands are increased education funding, the hiring of additional teachers and the replacement of absent teachers, smaller class sizes, repairs to outdated buildings, and improved learning conditions. Upper-secondary students from some lycées reported classes of around 35–40 students, a shortage of desks and chairs, leaking roofs, excessive heat in the buildings, and outdated computers. Some students are also protesting psychological pressure associated with the Parcoursup university admissions system.

How the authorities responded to the unrest

French President Emmanuel Macron said he understood young people's concerns and dissatisfaction with the situation in the education system, but stressed that this could not justify violence.

Amid the protests' continued spread, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened an interministerial crisis meeting at the Ministry of the Interior on October 1.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray instructed the heads of educational institutions to switch students to remote learning in cases where blockades or damage to buildings make it unsafe to hold classes. He also announced the creation of a special platform for consultations with school students. The authorities promise to collect the protesters’ demands and later present systemic responses to them.

At the same time, the protests have become the subject of a political dispute. Government representatives and some right-wing politicians accuse members of the left-wing party La France insoumise of encouraging and politically exploiting the protests. LFI representatives reject these accusations and criticize law enforcement’s actions toward participants in the demonstrations.

Let us remind you 

The Eiffel Tower was closed due to a strike against discrimination against female employees.