Up to 500 schools in France have partially or completely closed today as nationwide student protests over classroom conditions escalate, with buildings reportedly “burned or ransacked” and riot police deployed against demonstrators.
Schools shut and lessons suspended
Government ministers have declared lessons will be “totally or partly suspended” in some “400 to 500” schools due to security conditions which “have not been fulfilled.” French Education Minister Édouard Geffray has revealed that schools have been “burned or ransacked” as riot police have been deployed against protesters.
France's interior minister reported that over 5,000 arrests were made last week, with 85% involving minors, resulting in hundreds of injuries. On Friday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated a total of 1,747 people were arrested after the students took to the streets in protest.
Protests spread from Paris region
The protests initially broke out in the Paris region in mid-September. Teachers and students rallied against staffing shortages at a lycée, or high school, in Creteil, located in the southeastern outskirts of the French capital.
Hundreds of schools have been forced to shut due to damage or attacks targeting staff, according to the Education Minister. He states that more than 170 pupils and 65 staff members have sustained injuries.
Poor conditions and long hours
Since the start of the protests, students have been enraged by inequalities within the education system. They argue that teaching standards, facilities and prospects for progression fall short for pupils in deprived areas - despite France's national pledge: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
French media has revealed shocking footage in classrooms of scurrying rodents, crumbling ceilings, leaks, damaged furniture and other problems recorded in run-down schools. Sophie Bordy, a literature teacher in Paris, has spoken of the poor conditions pupils are studying in. The teacher stated: “The public needs to know that conditions for studying are no longer what they were for us.”
According to European Union data, French secondary school students have some of the longest compulsory school hours in Europe. “I see the teachers more than my family,” one young girl told the Le Parisien newspaper.
Police response and government statement
The protests have seen police officers deploy tear gas and batons against protesters. Police riot projectiles are suspected to be responsible for facial injuries sustained by young demonstrators.
On Friday, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin stated 735 of France’s 3,700 schools had been affected “one way or another” by the protests. The Education Minister has warned the number of schools affected today may rival the numbers seen on Friday. Despite this, the minister promised a “partial, progressive return to lessons”.
Édouard Geffray stated: “There are activists - particularly from the far-left - who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence.” The minister added: “Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students,” and noted that 78 staff members in education had been wounded, which he described as “something we have never seen before”.
