Again, France high school students protest
Over 70,000 people took part in demonstrations across France on Thursday demanding better education and less police brutality, as students protested nationwide despite government attempts to ease a crisis that has rocked the country for more than a week.
Students have blocked entrances to hundreds of high schools, with squads of riot police deployed – occasionally resulting in violent clashes.
The interior ministry said 71,500 participated in protests across the country, with police detaining more than 500 people.
In Paris, where some 24,500 took to the streets, a few fireworks streamed up into the sky as students from schools and universities rallied in Bastille Square.
Crowds of students climbed the famous monument at its centre, some waving the French flag and singing the national anthem.
A student sat with his legs dangling on the top of a bus stop, clutching a sign reading: “Reason for absence: Too busy fighting for our future.”
Student demonstrators – many attending high schools called lycees for children aged between 15 and 18 years old – have complained of absent teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.
Some demonstrators have started fires and vandalised bus shelters. In response, police have used tear gas, batons and blast balls, prompting rights groups and the children to accuse them of using disproportionate force.
A 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday after police fired a stun grenade, and the government has suspended the use of the weapon.
Police on Thursday evening said they used tear gas in Bastille to disperse some “high-risk profiles”.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray was set to announce “concrete measures” to address the crisis on the evening news, the prime minister’s office said.
Geffray had promised to present an “emergency plan” on teacher replacements.
In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised a plan to respond to the crisis by the end of October.
Although he denied security forces had been given “orders to confront” the protesters, many were unconvinced.
“We don’t want words, we want action,” 17-year-old Camille told AFP at a student march in the western city of Nantes.
Outside one high school in Rennes, 18-year-old Hanaa told AFP she was “disappointed and unconvinced” by Lecornu’s remarks.
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