Police fired tear gas to control crowds in Paris and elsewhere in France on Tuesday as more than a quarter of a million people rallied nationwide to support high school students demanding more education funding, according to government figures.
The protests increased pressure on the administration of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron. As pupils blockaded high schools, large crowds waving flags and placards gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities.
The demonstrations showed how protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement — the latest of many that have marked Macron’s nearly decade-long tenure.
Official government figures put the number of demonstrators at over a quarter of a million nationwide on this third day of protest and arrests at more than 500.
In Paris 56.000 took to the streets and small groups clashed with riot police at the end of a largely peaceful march.
Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats.
Other common complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads. French high school students’ compulsory classroom hours are among the highest in Europe.
Classes suspended in 891 schools
Nearly 500 people were detained Tuesday, the interior ministry said. Classes were suspended “either completely or partially” in roughly 891 out of the 3,700 schools across the country.
The widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against teenagers is fuelling defiance and angering some parents and teachers. Some student groups called for new protests on Thursday.
More than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades, and policing that has led to more than 6,500 arrests, mostly of minors, have become a flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign.
These protests are taking place against a backdrop of tension. The Minister for Education, Édouard Geffray, has stated that since the start of the protests, 85 members of teaching staff have been injured, as have 215 pupils and 715 members of the police force.
Questioned in parliament on Tuesday about the protest movement, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu denounced “ultra violence” threatening schools.
Responding to criticism of police tactics, he pledged that any “accidents” would be investigated and described allegations that the police are racist as a “lie".
Lessons were suspended “either completely or partially” in 891 schools out of the 3,700 across the country.
